Djibril Tobe appointed new Airtel Kenya MD

Djibril Tobe has been appointed the new Airtel Kenya managing director following the exit of Ashish Malhotra, who has taken up a new role as the chief executive officer of Indus Towers Africa.

The appointment, announced by the Board of Airtel Networks Kenya Limited on Tuesday, ushers in a seasoned business leader with more than two decades of experience across the telecommunications, fast-moving consumer goods and consulting sectors in several African markets.

Tobe succeeds Malhotra after serving as the managing director of Airtel Congo Brazzaville since May 2023.

Before that, he held several senior leadership positions within the Airtel Group, including managing director of Airtel Chad and commercial director at Airtel Burkina Faso.

He also previously served as chief executive officer of Expresso Guinea before leading business units at Ernst & Young and Coca-Cola.

According to the company, Tobe has built a strong track record of driving business transformation and delivering commercial growth across African markets.

His appointment comes after a four-year tenure by Malhotra, during which Airtel Kenya registered significant expansion in network coverage, digital services and customer growth.

Under Malhotra's leadership, the company carried out what it described as the largest network rollout in its history, deploying more than 2,000 sites across the country.

The expansion helped position Airtel Kenya among the country's fastest-growing telecommunications firms while supporting greater digital and financial inclusion.

The outgoing managing director also oversaw the growth of Airtel Money, whose market share increased from 2 per cent to 11 per cent over the past four years.

During the same period, Airtel Kenya doubled its revenues and expanded its subscriber base from 16 million to more than 24 million customers.

The company also introduced several customer-focused innovations and digital solutions, including the rollout of 5G services, eSIM technology, fibre connectivity solutions, Spam Alert services and the Home & Office Smart Connect broadband platform.

In announcing the leadership transition, the company's board expressed confidence that Tobe's experience would help steer Airtel Kenya into its next phase of growth.

"We welcome Djibril Tobe to his role, and we are confident that his expertise will steer Airtel Kenya to the next level as we continue delivering innovative and relevant solutions. We would like to commend Ashish for his immense contribution to Airtel Kenya's growth journey, and we wish him success in his new role," the Board said in a statement.

The board added that Tobe is expected to build on the company's recent momentum by accelerating growth, strengthening innovation and deepening its customer-centric transformation strategy.

With extensive experience gained across multiple African markets, Tobe now assumes leadership of Airtel Kenya at a time when competition in the country's telecommunications sector continues to intensify, with operators investing heavily in network expansion, digital financial services and next-generation connectivity.