Indian tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Airtel Africa reaches all-time high as capitalization soars above $9.5 billion

Africa’s second-largest telecom company, Airtel Africa Plc, has seen its market capitalization soar above the N3.9-trillion ($9.5 billion) mark on the Nigerian Exchange thanks to a recent N358.9-billion ($869.4 million) bump in its valuation.

Data tracked by Billionaires.Africa revealed that Airtel Africa’s market capitalization of N3.95 trillion ($9.56 billion) is the highest since the leading telecom operator listed its shares on July 8, 2019, in a strategic debut that gave it an implied valuation of N1.36 trillion ($4.4 billion).

As of press time, Jan. 6, shares in Airtel Africa on the local bourse were trading at N1,050.5 ($2.555) on the Nigerian Exchange, unchanged from its opening price this morning.

In the first two trading sessions of 2022, its share price has increased from N955 at the opening of trading yesterday, Jan. 5, to N1,050.5 ($2.555) at the closing of trading today, Jan. 6.

As a result, its market capitalization has surged by 10 percent, or N358.9 billion ($869.4 million), from N3.589 trillion ($8.69 billion) at the opening of trading this year to N3.95 trillion ($9.56 billion) at the time of the drafting of this report.

Airtel Africa is a leading telecom and mobile money services provider with a presence in 14 countries in East, Central and West Africa. The leading telecom services provider was founded in 2010 following the acquisition of Zain by Bharti Airtel in a deal worth $8.97 billion.

Bharti Airtel is a telecom outfit founded by Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal. As of the time of the drafting of this report, his net worth was $14.1 billion, $3.6-billion more than his net worth in June 2021.

His son, Shravin Mittal, who is also a director in Airtel Africa, holds a 3.38-percent stake, which amounts to a total of 127,147,531 ordinary shares in the telecom behemoth.

Analysts believe the recent surge in the shares of the telecom company was spurred by the sale of its tower assets and infrastructure in Tanzania to SBA Communications, a U.S.-based wireless communications infrastructure operator controlled by Jeffrey Stoops.

The leading telecom group is on course to pocket $176.1 million from the deal.

Airtel Africa has already received about $159 million of the proceeds from SBA, while the balance will be paid in installments upon the completion of the transfer.