Airtel Kenya has appointed Djibril Tobe as managing director, succeeding Ashish Malhotra, who has exited to become chief executive officer of Indus Towers Africa.
The leadership change comes as Airtel Kenya continues its commercial expansion.
Under Malhotra’s four-year tenure, the operator carried out a major network rollout, deploying more than 2,000 sites and strengthening its position in East Africa’s telecoms and mobile money market.
Malhotra is credited with growth in Airtel Money, which increased its market share from 2% to 11% during his tenure.
Over the same period, Airtel Kenya doubled its revenues and grew its subscriber base from 16 million to more than 24 million customers, alongside the rollout of 5G services, eSIM technology, fibre connectivity and its Home & Office Smart Connect broadband offering.
The Airtel Kenya board acknowledged his departure as he moves to Indus Towers Africa, the pan-African tower infrastructure business.
“We would like to commend Ashish for his contribution to Airtel Kenya’s growth journey, and we wish him success in his new role,” the board said in a statement.
Tobe has more than two decades of experience across telecommunications, fast-moving consumer goods and consulting in African markets. He joins from Airtel Congo B, where he has served as managing director since May 2023.
He previously led Airtel Chad as managing director and served as commercial director at Airtel Burkina Faso. He has also held roles at Expresso Guinea, Ernst & Young and Coca-Cola.
“We welcome Djibril Tobe to his role,” the board said.
The board said it expects Tobe to build on the work done over the past four years as Airtel Kenya continues its growth and competition in connectivity and mobile financial services intensifies.
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