If approved, the Airtel-Telkom merger could bring much-needed competition to the sector.

In February 2019, Telkom Kenya and Airtel Kenya announced plans to merge their Kenya telecom services into a joint venture to be called Airtel-Telkom.

Airtel-Telkom merger

The motivation behind the deal is to create an entity to challenge the market dominance of Safaricom. Since 2015, Telkom Kenya and Airtel Kenya have gained marginal market share growth.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

The merger is widely seen as bringing competitiveness as the joint firms could potentially improve their scale and efficiency, improve brand awareness and provide a greater number of products and services to its customers.

However, on 28 August the plan was suspended by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) following intervention from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). 

The EACC said it is investigating how the merger deal was brokered and it will only approve the arrangements if all lawful conditions are fulfilled. Additionally, the EACC said it is investigating allegations of misappropriation of public funds at Telkom.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Mugo Kibati, the CEO of Telkom Kenya, was reported in a Reuters story saying the company would cooperate with the investigation and said the probe was not linked to the merger deal.

Despite this delay, Telkom Kenya said it is optimistic the transaction will get the go-ahead by the EACC and the merger could occur before year-end 2019.

The merger, if approved, could reshape the Kenyan telecoms industry and bring competition to the sector thereby challenging Safaricom’s telecom dominance.