Airtel Uganda is only profitable unit in East Africa

Airtel Uganda was the only unit in the East Africa cluster to return a profit for the year ended 2018.
Other units in Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda posted losses with the Indian telecommunication giant registering a consolidated loss of $46.5m in the three countries.

The details of the performances are contained in a Bharti Airtel Africa financial report for the year ended 2018.
In Uganda, Airtel saw its profits grow by almost 30 per cent from $65.6m in 2017 to $90.5m in 2018.

However, the performance of other regional units is likely to be a drag-on on the only profitable unit in the region as the Indian-based telecom giant continues to struggle to find a foothold in a highly competitive region.
Many of the telecom’s units continue to be kept afloat through borrowing.

Airtel Tanzania saw its losses narrow to $15.94m in the period compared to $47.1m posted in 2017 pushing accumulated losses to $436.6m.
The company also saw its revenues dip to $202.6m from $212.9m in the period under review, according to the Bharti Africa annual report.

The Tanzania unit current assets now stand at $211.8m while liabilities add up to $625.7m, leaving the telecom in a deep negative territory.

The Kenyan unit posted a $27.43m loss last year, down from $59.5m in 2017, while the Rwanda saw its loss widen 10 times to $3.16m in the period, barely a year after it acquired Tigo.

Source: Daily Monitor