Airtel to reduce its African headcount by 15 per cent to 20 per cent

In a bid to turnaround the loss making African operations, Bharti Airtel plans to reduce its headcount by 15 per cent to 20 per cent in 2015. At the end of March 2015, Airtel Africa?s total headcount stood at 5,130.

About 700 to 800 employees of Airtel Africa?s tower operations are set to exit the company?s rolls over the next six months. Meanwhile 20 senior executives of the company too are expected to leave the company. In fact, over the last two months, a large number of senior executives have left the operator.

The recent senior level exits at Airtel Africa include George Fanthome, chief information officer; Willie Ellis, director (data); Mark Chambers, project director (segmentation); Sagar Darbari, finance vertical head; Vishal Gupta, supply chain management head; and Somasekhar VG, executive operations directo, strategic business unit (Zambia, Congo B, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Chad, Madagascar and Seychelles.