Bharti Earmarks $1bn Investment in Africa
- By Abimbola Tooki
- Published May 31st, 2011
- ITWorld
- Unrated
Sunil Mittal, Bharti Group founder and chief executive officer, said the Indian firm will pump a further $1 billion into its fledgling African mobile businesses this year, announcing that it has finally received the necessary regulatory approvals in all 16 countries on the continent that it entered last year.
Bharti Airtel acquired Kuwait-based Zain’s African operations for $10.7 billion, the largest-ever takeover by an Indian firm. “We have already invested $11 billion here and have committed nearly $1 billion investment for this year for expansion of our networks in Africa,” Mittal said. But he appeared to rule out further expansion into other African countries. “At the moment, we are focusing on our 16 countries and for any future expansion in Africa, we will see as the opportunities come, as there is nothing on the table at the moment.”
According to the report, in its last fiscal year (2010-11), Bharti reported a net loss of $97.7 million at its Africa operations on revenues of $3 billion. At the end of the firm’s fiscal fourth quarter (ending 31 March), it had 44.2 million African subscribers, which included quarterly net additions of 2.1 million. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for the African unit was $7.2 per month. Mittal noted that some of the African businesses were doing better than others: “Out of the 16 countries, many are very profitable; most of them are profitable. As far as Africa is concerned, we have to grow in Nigeria, we have to grow in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya there are few countries where we have to step up.”
Bharti Airtel acquired Kuwait-based Zain’s African operations for $10.7 billion, the largest-ever takeover by an Indian firm. “We have already invested $11 billion here and have committed nearly $1 billion investment for this year for expansion of our networks in Africa,” Mittal said. But he appeared to rule out further expansion into other African countries. “At the moment, we are focusing on our 16 countries and for any future expansion in Africa, we will see as the opportunities come, as there is nothing on the table at the moment.”
According to the report, in its last fiscal year (2010-11), Bharti reported a net loss of $97.7 million at its Africa operations on revenues of $3 billion. At the end of the firm’s fiscal fourth quarter (ending 31 March), it had 44.2 million African subscribers, which included quarterly net additions of 2.1 million. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for the African unit was $7.2 per month. Mittal noted that some of the African businesses were doing better than others: “Out of the 16 countries, many are very profitable; most of them are profitable. As far as Africa is concerned, we have to grow in Nigeria, we have to grow in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya there are few countries where we have to step up.”
