Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, Olusegun Ogunsanya, has decided to sell 666,174 of the company’s ordinary shares.
Airtel Africa is one of the biggest telecom businesses on the African continent.
On August 4, a transaction was completed at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) that entailed the sale of 666,174 shares at a price of £1.37 per share.
Ogunsanya made a profit of £757,440.70 as a result of the sale, and the telecom claims that this money will be used to finance the acquisition of property. It is important to point out that Ogunsanya still has ownership of 4,325,282 ordinary shares in the telecommunications company. Both the Nigeria Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange are home to listings for the company Airtel Africa.
After the release of Airtel Africa’s financial statements for the first quarter of 2023, this announcement has been made. The reports indicate that throughout the time period under consideration, the telecommunications company racked up a hefty loss of $151 million. This development came about as a direct result of a decision made by the Central Bank of Nigeria to standardise the currency exchange rate in an effort to maintain the value of the national currency.
As a result of the unification, the exchange rate for the naira against the dollar skyrocketed, going from N460 to $1 to $790 to $1. The rate reached N900 as of the previous week, which led to an increase in the price of petrol at the pump. Analysts have asserted that the events that are currently taking place are required in order for the country to overcome its economic difficulties; however, the typical Nigerian may not be as hopeful about this.
Read also: Airtel Africa Investors Lose N483 Billion In 24 Hours
Impact of this trade on Airtel Uganda
Airtel Uganda Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of AIRTEL Africa, will be listed on the Main Investment Market Segment of the Uganda Securities Exchange, according to an announcement made by AIRTEL Africa.
Pursuant to a corporate action that was submitted to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and signed by Simon O’Hara, the Group Company Secretary, the following was determined:
“Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, today announces that its wholly owned subsidiary in Uganda (Airtel Uganda Limited) has announced the intention to publish a prospectus and float shares on the Main Investment Market Segment of the Uganda Securities Exchange.”
It has been decided that Airtel Uganda Limited will conduct an initial public offering (IPO) of 8,000,000,000 ordinary shares. This will constitute twenty percent of the firm.
This step is being taken in order to both comply with regulatory standards and increase local ownership. The approval of the Capital Markets Authority of Uganda (CMA) is required prior to the actual publishing of the prospectus.
The firm also mentioned that the share offer will comprise the sale of ordinary shares by Bharti Airtel Uganda Holdings B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airtel Africa, subject authorisation of the transactions from Uganda’s Capital Market Authority. This information was included in the company’s announcement.
After deducting all of the costs that are associated with this offering, the remaining funds will be donated to Airtel Africa.
Airtel Africa, which is listed on both the Nigeria Exchange Limited (NGX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), stated that the initial public offering (IPO) intends to increase meaningful local ownership of Airtel Uganda Limited, and that preference will be given to Ugandan investors. This would help in contributing to the expansion of the capital markets in Uganda.
The proportion of the African market held by Airtel Africa
Airtel Africa, which is a part of Bharti Airtel, is a significant provider of telecommunications services over the entirety of the African continent. It is the dominant business in the countries of Chad, Malawi, and Niger. In terms of market share, it comes in at number three in Nigeria. When considering the nation located in West Africa, it is important to note that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently made public its report for the year 2022.
According to the conclusions of the regulatory body, Airtel Nigeria achieved the same level of market share as Globacom, which was 27% of the market in the country. On the other hand, its total number of subscribers (60,065,904) is just somewhat less than that of Glo’s (60,290,012).
In the meantime, Airtel has been making some noteworthy attempts to increase its subscriber base across all of the locations in which it is active. For example, the highly anticipated 5G network was just activated in Kenya not too long ago. Even though it holds the position of second-largest market leader in Kenya, Safaricom’s influence much outweighs that of this company.
The telecommunications company has also only recently made 5G available to customers in Nigeria, making it the second major telco in the country to do so after MTN Nigeria. There has been no progress made on the 5G rollout schedule for Glo and 9 Mobile. Even though the market leader, MTN, already has that service up and running, it would be intriguing to see how Airtel fares in the competition to provide 5G to consumers.
The previous week also saw the announcement of a new partnership between Airtel and MasterCard, which will facilitate easier money transfers for Airtel’s clients across Africa. The consequences of it are not yet known.