Airtel to float eight billion of its shares on Uganda Security Exchange

The giant telecom service provider Airtel Uganda is set to float eight billion of its existing ordinary shares on Uganda Security Exchange (USE).
According to Manoj Murali, the Managing Director of Airtel Uganda, the shares will be listed before the end of this year.
Currently, the government of Uganda is urging telecom operators to list a fifth of their shares on the USE to allow locals to benefit from the sector’s profits.
“We are excited to soon be in a position to share ownership of our business with our fellow Ugandans and outside Uganda. The initial public offer will see up to eight billion existing ordinary shares of the company representing 20% of the company made available,” he said.
Last year, MTN Uganda floated 20% of its shares to Ugandans and East Africans from Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan. The 20% transited into over 4.4M shares.
Each share was sold at Shs 200 and the potential shareholders were required to pay a minimum of Shs 100,000 for them to get 500 shares in the telecom company. MTN International owned 96% of the shares in Uganda but now owns 76% of the company, and the other 4% belong to Mr. Charles Mbiire.
Airtel entered the Uganda Market on June 8 2010 when Bharti Airtel acquired 16 Zain Africa operations.
In 2013, Airtel fully acquired Warid Telecom Uganda in the first ever in-country acquisition in the telecommunications sector. With this, Airtel further consolidated its position as the second largest mobile operator in Uganda with a combined customer base of over 7.4 million and market share of over 39% cementing its position as the second mobile telephone network, behind market leader MTN Uganda.
In 2018, Airtel hit the 10 million customer mark. This milestone cemented Airtel’s position as the fastest growing telecom in Uganda. In January 2019, Airtel Uganda achieved 100% 4G LTE across all its sites in Uganda, translating the national broadband policy into reality. The telecom owns in excess of 2,000 masts in Uganda, as of April 2020.