The Board of Airtel Networks Kenya Limited has appointed Djibril Tobe as the Managing Director of Airtel Kenya, succeeding Ashish Malhotra who takes up a new role as the Chief Executive Officer of Indus Towers Africa.
Djibril Tobe is a seasoned business leader with over 20 years of experience across various sectors, including telecommunications, fast-moving consumer goods and consulting sectors across multiple African markets. He has a strong track record in impacting businesses through transformation, and commercial growth across African markets.
Prior to this appointment, Djibril Tobe served as the Managing Director of Airtel Congo B since May 2023. His previous roles within the group included heading Airtel Chad as Managing Director as well as serving as Commercial Director at Airtel Burkina Faso. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer at Expresso Guinea before leading business units at Ernst & Young and at Coca-Cola.
Djibril Tobe takes over from Ashish Malhotra, who has served as the Managing Director for the past four years.
During his leadership tenure, Ashish Malhotra led Airtel Kenya to become one of Kenya’s fastest-growing telecommunications companies, with the largest network roll out in the company’s history with over 2000 sites rolled out, driving significant progress in digital and financial inclusion.
He championed the growth of Airtel Money, increasing its market share from 2% to 11% over the past four years. During the same period, Airtel Kenya doubled its revenues while expanding its subscriber base from 16 million to over 24 million customers.
He also drove several customer-centric innovations and digital solutions, including the rollout of 5G services, eSIM technology, fiber connectivity solutions, Spam Alert services, and the largest roll the Home & Office Smart Connect broadband platform.
“We welcome Djibril Tobe to his role and we are confident that his expertise will steer Airtel Kenya to the next level as we continue delivering innovative and relevant solutions. We would like to commend Ashish for his immense contribution to Airtel Kenya’s growth journey, and we wish him success in his new role,” the Board said in a statement.
The Board of Directors further expressed confidence that Djibril Tobe will lead Airtel Kenya into its next phase of growth, innovation, and customer-centric transformation, building on the strong momentum established over the past years.
