Airtel Africa II

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 IFC is considering up to $200 million in finance to Airtel Africa (the “Company”), which is an integrated provider of telecommunications (voice and data services) and mobile money services with a presence in 14 countries throughout the African continent via Airtel Africa’s subsidiaries (the Operating Companies). Airtel Africa has an asset-light business model and mainly operates telecommunication networks, data centers, and distribution networks such as sales shops and Airtel Money branches. The proposed funding (“the Project”) will support Airtel Africa operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Kenya to cover capital expenditure (CAPEX) needs and refinance USD-denominated debt. The CAPEX component will be directed towards modernizing the telecom network by purchasing active equipment on sites for 4G such as antenna, software updates, packet core, base transceiver station, and acquisition and/or buildup of fiber capacity.This will be IFC’s second investment in Airtel Africa after a previous investment in 2022, disclosed at (https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/ESRS/43749/airtel-africa), for which the environmental and social (E&S) performance has been satisfactory. The current investment with Airtel Africa covers DRC and Kenya, and the proposed investment will expand support to the Rwanda subsidiary.