Airtel Uganda Limited is a mobile communications and information technology services provider in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. The company also offers mobile funds transfer and banking services known as ''Airtel Payments Bank''. Airtel Uganda Limited is a subsidiary of Airtel Africa PLC.

Location

The headquarters of Airtel Uganda are located in ''Airtel Towers'', along Clement Hill Road, in the Central Division of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

, the county's capital and largest city. The coordinates of the headquarters are 0°19'14.0"N, 32°35'18.0"E (Latitude:0.320556; Longitude:32.588333).

History

Airtel entered the Uganda Market on June 8, 2010 when Bharti Airtel acquired 16 Zain Africa operations. In 2013, Airtel fully acquired Warid Telecom Uganda in the first ever in-country acquisition in the telecommunications sector. With this, Airtel further consolidated its position as the second largest mobile operator in Uganda with a combined customer base of over 7.4 million and market share of over 39% cementing its position as the number 2 mobile telephone network, behind market leader

MTN Uganda MTN Uganda is the largest telecom company in Uganda, with 11.2 million subscribers, accounting for 55 percent market share, as of 30 June 2017. By 31 December 2019, its customer base had increased to 12.6 million customers. In March 2021, the Uga ...

. In 2018, Airtel hit the 10 million customer mark. This milestone cemented Airtel’s position as the fastest growing telecom in Uganda. In January 2019, Airtel Uganda achieved 100% 4G LTE across all its sites in Uganda, translating the national broadband policy into reality. The telco owns in excess of 2,000 masts in Uganda, as of April 2020.

Overview

Airtel Uganda, is one of the leading telecommunication service providers in Uganda, offering communication products and services; 2G, 3G and 4G wireless voice, data services and mobile commerce through ''Airtel Money''. As of March 2021, the

Uganda Communications Commission The Uganda Communications Commission ''(UCC)'' is the government regulatory body of the communications sector in Uganda. Although owned by the Ugandan government, it acts independently. Its mandated responsibilities include licensing, regulation ...

(UCC), estimated the number of subscribers to Airtel Uganda at 10 million out of the 28.3 million mobile network subscribers in the country. This translates into a 35.3 percent market share.

Airtel Money

Airtel Uganda launched Mobile Commerce in 2012. Currently the Airtel Money platform is a primary contributor to financial inclusion and a key point for financial inclusion with over 5 million customers as at end of March 31, 2019.

Investment

Airtel is a long term investor with a single largest foreign direct investment from India to Uganda. The company is among the leading tax payers in Uganda. In 2019, Airtel was recognized as Uganda’s biggest taxpayer for compliance in remitting taxes to Uganda Revenue Authority. Airtel Uganda paid taxes worth UGX136 billion (approx. US$38 million), in the financial year 2018/19 winning the Excel Award.

Infrastructure investment

Airtel invests in local ICT and telecom infrastructure; 2,000 sites and over 3,900 kilo meters of fiber across Uganda covering 95.9%, core and transmission networks and mobile financial services platform.

Governance

Manoj Murali is Managing Director of Airtel Uganda since October 2020. He Replaced VG Somasekhar who until recently was the MD Airtel Uganda. Before Joining Airtel Uganda, Manoj handled different roles and worked across geographies in India, the corporate and the international operations of Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and the Channel Islands. His most recent assignment was CEO of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Prior to this, he held other roles including Chief Operating (Executive) Officer in Rajasthan and Business head (Chief Operating Officer) in Andhra Pradesh, among other positions within the system,”.

People

99% of Airtel staff are Ugandan, with over 40% being women.

License renewal

In December 2020, print media reported that Airtel Uganda had paid US$74.6 million to the Uganda government in exchange for a 20-year National Telecom Operator's License. The basic license cost US$63.2 million and Value Added Tax (VAT) came to US$11.4 million. As a condition for the license, that is effective on 1 July 2020, the telco has until 1 July 2025 to extend coverage of both voice and data to at least 90 percent of Uganda's geographical territory. In January 2022,

The EastAfrican ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national '' Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' is circulated in Kenya and the other countries of the African Great Lakes T ...

reported that the license payment made in December 2020 was for the ten years from July 2020 to June 2030. Another estimated US$77.78 million was owed to the Uganda Government for the period from July 2030 until June 2040.

Listing of shares

It is expected that Airtel Uganda is going to list at least 20 percent of its shares of

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

on the

Uganda Securities Exchange The Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) is the principal stock exchange of Uganda. It was founded in June 1997. The USE is operated under the jurisdiction of Uganda's Capital Markets Authority, which in turn reports to the Bank of Uganda, Uganda's ...

in 2022, to comply with Ugandan laws and regulations. In April 2022, the telco requested for a one year extension to the original listing deadline of December 2022.

References

External links

Website of Airtel Uganda
As of 13 June 2018. {{Mobile network operators in Uganda Bharti Airtel Kampala Central Division Telecommunications companies established in 1995 Mobile phone companies of Uganda 1995 establishments in Uganda Telecommunications companies of Uganda Companies based in Kampala