Bharti Airtel gets shareholders' nod to increase stake in Africa business; how much does the telecom arm earn?

Bharti Airtel on Monday, June 15, said that the board has received the shareholders' approval to increase its shareholding in the company’s subsidiary, Airtel Africa Plc, as the company eyes long-term value creation potential from the business, as per an exchange filing.

The NSE filing showed that the telecom major will issue equity shares on a preferential basis to the Indian Continent Investment Ltd in exchange for acquiring 16.31% stake in Airtel Africa via a cashless share-swap transaction.

After the additional stake acquisition, Bharti Airtel will hold around 79% stake in Airtel Africa, subject to all the remaining regulatory approvals. As per a PTI report, the share-swap transaction is worth ₹28,220 crore.

“Airtel Africa is central to our growth strategy and is well-positioned to deliver robust performance with an increasing contribution to our consolidated revenues,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises. “We see significant potential in Africa for long-term shareholder value creation.”

Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading 1.6% higher at ₹1,853 during the trading session on Monday, June 15, compared to ₹1,822.50 at the previous stock market session, according to NSE data.

This share-swap deal approval comes after Bharti Airtel, on May 13, announced that the board plans to reorganise the shareholding framework of subsidiary companies, including Airtel Africa Plc, in a consolidation effort.

How much does Bharti Airtel earn from Africa business?

Bharti Airtel’s mobile services business in Africa contributed to becoming the second-largest portion of the overall consolidated revenue from core operations in the fourth quarter of the year ended 2025-26.

With the largest chunk of the revenues coming from India mobile services business, the Africa business ranks over other segments like South Asia operations, passive infrastructure business, home services, digital TV services, etc.

The March quarter consolidated financial statements from Bharti Airtel’s Africa business showed that the vertical’s core revenues advanced nearly 41% to ₹16,033 crore for the financial year ended 2025-26, compared with ₹11,376 crore in the same period a year ago.

On the backdrop of surging revenues, the profits from Airtel’s Africa operations rose 59.5% to ₹5,408 crore in the March quarter of the year ended 2025-26, compared year-on-year (YoY) with ₹3,389 crore in the same period a year ago.

Bharti Airtel’s customer base in Africa stands at 482 million, with the company operating at an EBITDA margin (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of 49.5% with a YoY increase of 223 basis points.

How have Bharti Airtel shares performed?

Bharti Airtel shares have delivered more than 242% returns on their investment in the last five years and gained 121% in the last three years, according to NSE data. However, the company’s stock has dropped 0.14% in the past one year.

The telecom stock has lost nearly 13% so far in the calendar year 2026, and has dropped 3.5% in the last one month period. Bharti Airtel shares were trading 1.3% higher over the last five trading sessions on NSE.

Shares of Bharti Airtel surged to their 52-week high of ₹2,174.50 on November 21, 2025, while the 52-week low was at ₹1,740 on May 13, 2026, as per the exchange data. The company’s market capitalisation (m-cap) was at over ₹11.19 lakh crore as of the trading session on Monday, June 15.