Airtel to launch 5G in July, ready to list on Kenyan exchange if requirement retained

Airtel Africa is ready to list its Kenyan unit on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) if the government keeps the condition as part of its licence obligations, Business Daily cites Segun Ogunsanya, CEO of Airtel Africa, as saying. ‘As part of our licence obligation, there’s a requirement to list in Kenya. For the last couple of months, there’s been discussion around whether that condition is going to be changed or is going to stay. We still have been waiting for clarity from Kenya whether there’s still an obligation to list,’ he said, adding that if the requirement is retained, Airtel Kenya will be ready to comply.

The operator has also revealed that it is planning to launch its 5G network early next month and is in the process of increasing its current 3,200 mobile sites (covering 89% of the country) by a further 349 sites, with an additional 300 also in the pipeline. The expansion drive will also see LTE rolled out in the 2600MHz band to increase network capacity. As part of its expansion plans, Airtel has earmarked expenditure of around USD825 million in the coming year.