Bharti airtel, which purchased mobile phone operations in 15 African countries in 2010, said it is on target to generate $5 billion in revenue from the continent and reach 100 million subscribers there by the end of March 2013.
The company paid $9 billion for most of Kuwait-based Zain’s African cellular operations, which generated about $2.9 billion in revenues in the year that ended March 31 and had 44.2 million subscribers.
airtel, which sees Africa as the biggest future continent for telecoms growth, has implemented its low-cost, high-volume Indian model in Africa and has outsourced network, information technology and back office operations to reduce costs. The company had operating margins of 24 percent in its African operations for the year ended March, compared with 36.8 percent from its India and other south Asian operations.
