Airtel Kenya Appoints Djibril Tobe As MD

Airtel Kenya has appointed Djibril Tobe as its new managing director, succeeding Ashish Malhotra, who is leaving the company after four years to take up the role of chief executive at Indus Towers Africa.

The appointment comes as Airtel Kenya continues to strengthen its position in the country’s telecommunications market, following sustained investments in network infrastructure, digital services and mobile financial services.

Tobe joins the Kenyan operation from Airtel Congo B, where he has served as managing director since May 2023. He previously led Airtel Chad as managing director and held the position of commercial director at Airtel Burkina Faso. Before joining Airtel, he worked in leadership roles at Expresso Guinea, Ernst & Young and Coca-Cola.

In announcing the appointment, Airtel Kenya’s board expressed confidence in Tobe’s ability to lead the company’s next phase of growth.

“We welcome Djibril Tobe to his role and are confident that his expertise will steer Airtel Kenya to the next level as we continue delivering innovative and relevant solutions,” the board said in a statement.

Tobe takes over a business that recorded significant expansion during Malhotra’s tenure. According to Airtel Kenya, the operator deployed more than 2,000 network sites over the past four years, marking the largest network rollout programme in the company’s history. The period also saw the introduction of 5G services, eSIM technology, fibre connectivity products and the Home and Office Smart Connect broadband platform.

The company also expanded its mobile financial services business, with Airtel Money increasing its market share from approximately 2 percent to 11 percent during the same period, according to company figures.

Latest data from the Communications Authority of Kenya for the quarter ended March 2026 shows Airtel Kenya accounted for 27.6 percent of the country’s mobile subscriptions, while market leader Safaricom held 68.9 percent. In the mobile broadband segment, Airtel had a 31.8 percent market share compared with Safaricom’s 64.5 percent.

Despite the gains, mobile money remains the company’s biggest competitive challenge. Airtel Money held a 10.9 percent market share during the period, while M-PESA controlled 89.1 percent of the market, highlighting the continued dominance of Safaricom’s mobile payments platform.

Airtel Kenya also said it doubled its revenue during Malhotra’s leadership and increased its customer base from 16 million to more than 24 million subscribers. The company does not disclose the financial performance of its Kenyan operations.