Telco says it isn't shutting down in Africa but the signs don't look good

Airtel Africa has denied claims that it could be exiting all 14 countries in which it operates in Africa this year.

Reports of the telco's departure surfaced sometime last week after Bharti Airtel announced plans to streamline its operations in several markets across the world and Africa.

However, Airtel Africa CEO Raghunath Mandava had this to say: “All the steps taken recently with regard to human resources and infrastructure have been geared towards readying the organisation to grow efficiently and sustainably in the medium to long term. The company remains committed to competing in various markets and providing more choice to customers through further investments to ensure consistent delivery of quality and value for money services to our customers. We are also accelerating our investments in new data networks and to modernise our existing networks. We are committed to launching 4G in multiple countries.”

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In its third quarter earnings report, Airtel Africa reported its best numbers in nine years with revenue 6.0 percent year-on-year though its customer growth dropped to 4.9 percent from 6 percent, according to Kachwanya.

Still, the company lost $91 million in the quarter ending September 2016 and $170 million in the year before that. There are also the problems parent company Bharti Airtel is facing back home in India.

Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man put $22 billion into a new telco that is now Bharti Airtel's biggest competitor. The telco is called Reliance Jio and they are offering rock bottom prices for data and free calls.

Jio has already gained 50 million subscribers (it took Airtel 12 years to hit that figure) within just three months. Obviously, Airtel has a lot of work to do as it tries to remain a force in the markets it operates in.