Airtel Kenya appoints Djibril Tobe as MD as market share grows against Safaricom
Airtel Kenya has appointed Senegalese telecoms executive Djibril Tobe as its new managing director, succeeding Ashish Malhotra who is leaving to become CEO of Indus Towers Africa. Tobe previously led Airtel Congo B since May 2023, and held MD roles at Airtel Chad and commercial director at Airtel Burkina Faso, with prior experience at Expresso Guinea, Ernst & Young and Coca-Cola. Under Malhotra's tenure, Airtel Kenya rolled out more than 2,000 new network sites - the largest expansion in the company's history - launched 5G, eSIM, fibre connectivity and its Home and Office Smart Connect broadband platform, and grew Airtel Money's market share from about 2% to 11% while doubling revenue and expanding the subscriber base from 16 million to over 24 million customers. According to the Communications Authority of Kenya for the quarter ended March 2026, Airtel held 27.6% of mobile subscriptions (Safaricom 68.9%), 31.8% of mobile broadband (Safaricom 64.5%) and 10.9% of mobile money (M-PESA 89.1%).
For Nigerians, the move highlights Airtel's broader African strategy and may signal where the group will focus investment - particularly in network expansion, 5G and mobile money - to compete with dominant rivals like MTN.
What lessons can Airtel Nigeria draw from Kenya's network rollout and mobile-money growth to strengthen its own position against MTN?