Ahead of the secondary listing at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Airtel Africa Plc said it is aspiring to be the widest smartphone network leadership in the telecommunications industry.
The telecom giant also unveiled plans to distribute 80 per cent of its free cash flow as dividend to shareholders as long as a ratio of net debt to EBITDA between 2 to 2.5 times is maintained.
Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Bharti Airtel, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, who disclosed this in his presentation in Lagos at facts before the listing said the company planned to be quality customer additions and best in class in all its geographies.
He said that the aspirations of management is for Airtel money to become the currency of choice, run as an independent monetizable business network and Nigerian payment bank- a catalyst to growth.
Ogunsanya said that Airtel targets to add adjacent revenue streams by capturing new business opportunities through fixed wireless broadband, enterprises and data centres.
He also said that Airtel money revenue growth expected to be between 1.3 – 1.4× of the market growth.
Ogunsanya promised that the company would adhere to all post listing requirement of the NSE, going forward, just as he promised transparency in all affairs of the company.
The board of Airtel Africa Plc had on Friday rescheduled secondary listing of its shares at on the floor of Nigerian Stock Exchange to ensure that the company meet all the necessary procedures required before listing.
It is expected that the company may list its N3.76 billion ordinary shares , amounting to N1.364 trillion at the rate of N363.00 per share at the exchange on Monday.
Following the initial public offer (IPO) from which Airtel Africa raised a total $750 million by way of book building, its entire issued shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange, while the rescheduling of the listing on the NSE was for it to engage in secondary/ cross-border listing.
The Nigerian listing is expected to enhance domestic participation in the ownership of the company, which is necessary to ensure Airtel Africa meets the pre-listing requirement of 300 shareholders.
Stating reasons for the rescheduled listing exercise, despite the prior approval by the Exchangr, chief executive officer of the NSE, Oscar Onyema said the shifting was necessary to ensure that all pre-listing procedures are followed and completed before the exercise.
He expressed hope that the listing would hold on Monday, once the process is concluded before then.
While welcoming stakeholders to the event, Onyema said the decision to list the company on the NSE “reaffirms its long-term commitment to expanding opportunities for Nigerians in addition to providing everyday services to them.
“This listing serves to deepen the telecoms and technology sector for investors and provides an opportunity for a wider group of Nigerians to be part of the African telecoms growth story.”
He described the listing as “a promising development in Africa with Airtel Africa being the second company to have its ordinary shares listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This gives credence to the successful partnership between the two exchanges and we encourage similarly situated companies to explore the different opportunities for raising capital on the Exchange’s platform Furthermore, it shows the confidence Airtel Africa has in our platform, which has a total market capitalization of N25.20 trillion across various asset classes.
