Bharti Airtel is reportedly set to reduce its headcount in Africa by between 15 per cent and 20 per cent this year, including the departure of 20 senior executives in the region.
The company is shaking up its operations in Africa in a bid to turnaround its fortunes in the continent, where it has struggled to turn a profit since entering the region in 2010, according to Economic Times (ET).
The move will see approximately 700 to 800 of Airtel Africa’s tower employees leaving the company over the next six months, with 20 senior executives across the group also set to depart, some after their contracts expire.
Airtel recently sold tower assets in five African countries, raising $1.3 billion, while announcing it is in the process of further divestment in six others.
An Airtel spokesperson told ET many of the company’s tower employees had already moved to the acquiring entity, while others were in the process of moving as the transactions close. As of 1 March, Airtel Africa’s employee count stood at 5,130.
The shakeup follows Airtel’s announcement regarding talks with Orange over the sale of four of its African operations in Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso to “establish a sharper focus” on its other African units
