Airtel Africa attempts to boost Nigerian growth with $70m acquisition

Airtel Africa on Thursday announced that its subsidiary, Airtel Networks, has agreed to acquire an additional 10.0MHz of spectrum in the 900 MHZ band in Nigeria for a consideration of $70.0m.

The pan-African telecoms and mobile money services provider said the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, will allow its Nigerian business to expand and strengthen its long term evolution (LTE) network across the country.

LTE is a 4G wireless communications standard designed to provide up to ten times the speed of 3G networks for devices such as smartphones, tablets, netbooks and notebooks.

The West African nation is the FTSE 250-listed company's largest market, with turnover from Airtel Nigeria having increased by 23.0% in the half-year period ended 30 September.

Mobile data was the main driver of this growth, with data revenue having risen by 76% following the accelerated roll-out of the company's 4G network.

Chief executive Raghunath Mandava said: "With an overall smartphone penetration of more than 35% and data consumption growing by 92% in the six months' period ended 30 September 2019, Nigeria presents a significant growth opportunity in data.

"The acquisition of this spectrum will enable us to further deliver on this growth opportunity and continue to offer our Nigerian customers an enhanced user experience."

Airtel Africa shares were down 4.26% at 67.50p at 1053 GMT.