Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Mittal has described the opportunity to expand investment in Africa as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” as the Indian telecom giant moves to raise its stake in Airtel Africa through a $2.9 billion share swap deal.
According to Bloomberg, Bharti Airtel is seeking to increase its ownership in Airtel Africa to as much as 90%, reinforcing its long-term commitment to the continent ahead of the planned initial public offering (IPO) of Airtel Africa’s mobile-money business.
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Mittal said while discussing the Africa investment strategy. He added that Airtel’s expansion into Africa 15 years ago was a “visionary move.”
The move comes as Airtel Africa continues to benefit from rising demand for mobile connectivity, digital payments, and financial inclusion services across sub-Saharan Africa, where smartphone adoption and mobile-money usage are expanding rapidly.
With an estimated net worth of $13.4 billion, according to Forbes real-time data, Sunil Mittal ranks among India’s richest billionaires. He also has interests in Airtel Payments Bank, a joint venture with Kotak Mahindra Bank controlled by fellow billionaire Uday Kotak.
