Airtel Africa — one of the continent's largest mobile and mobile-money networks, across 14 countries — is controlled by Bharti Airtel, the Indian telecoms group. Bharti floated Airtel Africa in London in 2019 holding about two-thirds of it, and in 2026 raised its stake to roughly 79% 1, tightening Indian control. Airtel Africa is listed on the London Stock Exchange with a secondary listing in Lagos 2 — but the free float shrinks as the parent buys in.
So the network hundreds of millions of Africans use to call and to pay is Indian-owned, and increasingly so. It's the same ownership question this desk runs from Tecno to MTN — read the full ledger.