Airtel Africa II Upsizing (IFC-51083)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Kenya
  • Rwanda
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Apr 29, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Airtel Africa Plc
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Communications
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 100.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS May 21, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Mar 20, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed investment consists of providing an additional IFC A Loan of up to US$100 million equivalent in deliverable local currency to be disbursed to AA’s subsidiaries in Kenya and Rwanda (“Borrowers”). The Loan would be under similar terms and conditions as the other committed facilities. The investment aims to support the continued mobile network roll-out through new capital expenditure (“capex”) programs and refinancing of the Borrowers’ existing debt freeing up capital for further network expansion.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environment and Social Sustainability (2012) because it is expected to have limited adverse E&S impacts that are few, site-specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures. Key E&S aspects associated with the Airtel Africa operations have been covered in the ESRS and ESAP of the previous investments.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

IFC intends to invest a senior debt of up to US$ 100 million towards capital expenditure and refinancing existing debt to the Group's subsidiaries in Kenya and Rwanda.

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Airtel Africa Plc is an integrated mobile network operator in 14 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. It offers an integrated suite of telecommunications solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services. Airtel is a public company limited by shares incorporated in the United Kingdom under the Companies Act 2006 and is registered in England and Wales. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Bharti Airtel Limited Holding, an Indian telecommunication company with operations in 17 countries, is a majority shareholder with c. 62.3% shareholding in the Group.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Airtel Africa Plc Client -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Airtel Africa Plc
Mr. Sidhanth Hota
Group Treasurer
+44 7557 300 353
sidhanth.hota@africa.airtel.com
Weesperstraat 107 – 1018 VN Amsterdam – The Netherlands
https://airtel.africa/

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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How it works