Airtel Africa
Former UK high commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright appointed to Airtel board
Paul Arkwright, who served as the UK High Commissioner to Nigeria from 2015 to 2018, has been appointed to the board of Airtel Africa.
According to a corporate disclosure on the NGX website, Paul will serve as an independent non-executive director on the board of Airtel Africa. He was previously serving as a special advisor to the board and the chairman of Airtel Africa. His role involves dealing with political, legal, and regulatory matters as outlined in his consulting contract.
About Paul Arkwright
Paul Arkwright is a 62-year British diplomat, with over 34 years of experience in UK diplomatic service. He served as the UK Ambassador to the Netherlands between 2009 and 2013, UK High Commissioner to Nigeria from 2015 to 2018, CEO of the UK-Africa Investment Summit in 2019, Acting UK Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2020, and Regional Ambassador for Africa at the COP26 Summit.
He holds an M.A in English Literature from the University of Cambridge, and after retiring from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, he established Arkwright Advisory. Arkwright Advisory focused on providing advice to global businesses on investing in and operating across Africa.
Paul serves on the advisory panel of Africa Matters Limited, a division of J.S Held, and is a member of the Central Council of the Royal Over-Seas League. In 2016, he was honored with a CMG by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his contributions to international diplomacy.
What you should know
With a presence in about 14 African countries, Airtel Africa is one of the most-widely spread companies listed on the NGX. The group segments its operation into Nigeria, East Africa mobile services, Francophone Africa mobile services, and mobile money services.
During the year ended March 31, 2023, Airtel Africa posted a net loss of $89 million as it recorded a finance cost of $1.07 billion due to derivatives and FX losses caused by currency devaluation across Africa.
In FY 2022/2023 year, its Nigeria operation was the group’s major source of revenue, as it recorded $2.1258 billion. However, in FY 2023/2024, the group’s gross earnings from Nigeria declined to $1.5 billion. Airtel East Africa was the major source of revenue for the group in FY’ 23/24, hitting $2.125 billion, up from $1.931 billion in FY ‘22/23.
Considering his level of involvement with businesses and politicians across Africa, Paul Arkwright is expected to bring his extensive network, diplomatic expertise, and deep understanding of the continent’s political, legal, and regulatory landscape to the table for Airtel.
Due to its extensive presence throughout Africa, Airtel Africa has a strong corporate social responsibility drive and contributes to various sustainability initiatives across the continent. Paul’s expertise would be invaluable in further enhancing and strategically guiding these efforts.
The group currently has a $57 million five-year partnership with UNICEF across 13 African countries where it is expected to connect schools to the internet and ensure free access to learning platforms. This project is expected to reach 620 primary schools in Nigeria, the schools will be connected to a broadband.
Airtel Africa also teamed up with the Rwandan government to carry out the ConnectRwanda 2.0 project. The goal is to supply over a million Rwandans with low-cost smartphones.
