Airtel Kenya Appoints Djibril Tobe as Managing Director Following Ashish Malhotra’s Exit

Airtel Kenya has appointed Senegalese telecommunications executive Djibril Tobe as its new managing director, handing him leadership of the country’s second-largest mobile network operator as it seeks to expand its market share against Safaricom PLC.

Djibril Tobe succeeds Ashish Malhotra, who is leaving Airtel Kenya after four years to become Chief Executive Officer of Indus Towers Africa.

The appointment comes after a period of rapid growth for Airtel Kenya, during which the operator expanded its network footprint, doubled its revenue, increased its subscriber base and strengthened its position in Kenya’s telecommunications market.

The Airtel Kenya board said Tobe’s experience across several African markets would support the company’s next phase of growth as it continues expanding its digital and telecommunications services.

Djibril Tobe Brings More Than Two Decades of Telecom Experience

Tobe joins Airtel Kenya from Airtel Congo B, where he has served as managing director since May 2023. Before that, he led Airtel Chad and previously worked as commercial director at Airtel Burkina Faso.

Outside the Airtel Group, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Expresso Guinea and has also held management consulting roles at Ernst & Young as well as leadership positions at Coca-Cola.

His experience spans telecommunications, consumer goods and professional services, with a career focused on business growth, commercial strategy and operational leadership across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Tobe Inherits a Business That Expanded Rapidly Under Malhotra

Tobe takes over a business that has recorded strong operational growth over the past four years under Malhotra’s leadership.

During that period, Airtel Kenya deployed more than 2,000 new network sites, expanding network coverage across the country while introducing several new products and services.

The company launched commercial 5G services, eSIM, fibre connectivity products and its Home and Office Smart Connect broadband platform. It also introduced its Spam Alert service and expanded agent interoperability through a partnership with KCB Bank.

The expansion helped Airtel Kenya grow its mobile subscriber base from 16 million customers to more than 24 million while doubling corporate revenue over the same period.

Airtel Continues to Narrow the Gap in Key Market Segments

According to Communications Authority of Kenya data for the quarter ended March 2026, Airtel Kenya accounted for 27.6% of the country’s mobile subscriptions, while Safaricom held 68.9%.

In mobile broadband, Airtel increased its market share to 31.8%, compared with Safaricom’s 64.5%.

The company has also made gains in mobile financial services. Airtel Money’s market share increased from about 2% four years ago to 10.9% as of March 2026. Despite the growth, Safaricom’s M-PESA remains the dominant mobile money platform, controlling 89.1% of the market.

Focus Shifts to Infrastructure, Digital Services and Airtel Money

As managing director, Tobe is expected to oversee Airtel Kenya’s next phase of expansion by increasing utilisation of the company’s expanded network infrastructure while growing its digital services portfolio.

One of his priorities will be expanding Airtel Money’s presence in Kenya’s highly competitive mobile payments market through partnerships and additional financial products.

He will also oversee preparations for Airtel Africa’s 44-megawatt Nxtra data centre under construction at Tatu City. The facility is expected to become operational in early 2027 and will support cloud services, enterprise workloads and artificial intelligence infrastructure across the region.

The investment forms part of Airtel Africa’s wider strategy to strengthen its digital infrastructure business alongside its telecommunications operations.