Airtel Africa Announces Major Board Changes as Sunil Bharti Mittal Steps Down as Chair

Airtel Africa plc,  a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, announces the following Board changes.

Board Chair

Sunil Bharti Mittal has informed the Board of his intention to retire as Chair of the Board at the conclusion of this year’s AGM in July 2026. Mr. Mittal has served as Chair since listing in 2019, and the Board thanks him for his leadership and contribution during this period.

The Board is pleased to announce that Gopal Vittal will be appointed Non-Executive Chair of the Board with effect from the same date.

Mr. Vittal’s appointment is by nomination of the controlling shareholder pursuant to the terms of the relationship agreement dated 17 June 2019 between the Company, Bharti Airtel, Airtel Africa Mauritius Limited, the majority shareholder and an indirect subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, and Bharti Telecom. Mr. Vittal is an established telecoms leader who led Bharti Airtel to a life-time high revenue market share in an intensely competitive market and is the current Board Chair of the GSMA. He was appointed a non-executive director of Airtel Africa in October 2024.

The Board acknowledges that Mr. Vittal will not be independent on appointment for the purposes of the UK Corporate Governance Code.

Shravin Bharti Mittal will assume the role of Deputy Chair with effect from the same date. As Deputy Chair, Mr. Mittal will ensure continuity with the founding family and significant shareholder, and will be the Board’s conduit with the Airtel Money Board, on which he serves, and with Airtel Africa’s headquarters in Dubai, where he is based.

Retirement of Annika Poutiainen

As part of the ongoing succession planning in respect of the Company’s Non-Executive Directors, Annika Poutiainen will also retire at the conclusion of the July AGM, at which point she will have served for over seven years.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Annika for her significant contribution as a member of the Audit & Risk Committee and for her leadership in establishing and embedding the Group’s sustainability strategy as Board sustainability champion. During her tenure, she has been a strong advocate of high standards of governance and financial reporting. At the same time, I want to extend my thanks to the Board of Airtel Africa for their support to me as Chairman. Airtel Africa has a solid strategy and an outstanding leadership team in place, the strength of which is evident in recent results, so I am confident that now is the time for me to step aside as Chair. It has been an honour to lead Airtel Africa in this capacity, and I know the company will continue to prosper and to advance the transformative power of connectivity to the millions of customers we serve across 14 African countries. I have offered my services and will be available to support the company as requested by the Chair.”

– Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chair, Airtel Africa plc

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to express my gratitude to Sunil for his dedicated service and invaluable contributions to the Airtel Africa story, from its acquisition in 2010, through to its listing in 2019 and to where we are today in the FTSE100. Sunil is a titan of the global telecommunications industry, and his exemplary leadership has been instrumental in guiding us through to our current achievements. I am grateful that Sunil has agreed to be available to support Airtel Africa as the need arises.”

– Tsega Gebreyes, Senior independent director, Airtel Africa plc