Airtel Kenya appoints Djibril Tobe as new managing director, effective July 1

Airtel Networks Kenya Limited has announced the appointment of Djibril Tobe as managing director following the exit of Ashish Malhotra, who has taken up a new role as the chief executive officer of Indus Towers Africa. 

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Airtel Kenya noted that Tobe’s appointment brings a new season of expected achievements, coming from his two decades of experience across the telecoms, consumer goods and consulting sectors across several African markets.

“We are pleased to announce that the Board of Airtel Networks Kenya Limited has appointed Djibril Tobe as the Managing Director of Airtel Kenya effective 1st July 2026, succeeding Ashish Malhotra, who takes up a new role as the Chief Executive Officer of Indus Towers Africa.”

“Djibril, a seasoned business leader, brings over 20 years of experience across multiple African countries and joins us from Airtel Congo B, where he served as the Managing Director,” part of the statement reads. 

Tobe, who will assume the role of Managing Director on July 1, 2026, succeeds Malhotra after serving as Managing Director of Airtel Congo Brazzaville since May 2023.

Before his role in Congo, he held several senior leadership positions within the Airtel Group, including managing director of Airtel Chad and commercial director at Airtel Burkina Faso. He also served as chief executive officer of Expresso Guinea before leading business units at Ernst & Young and Coca-Cola.

Airtel Kenya noted that Tobe has a track record of driving business transformation and delivering commercial growth across African markets.

Also Read: Bharti Airtel acquires additional stake in Airtel Africa, now owns 79.22%.

Malhotra’s tenure at Airtel Kenya

Tobe’s appointment comes after Malhotra’s four-year tenure as the company’s managing director. During the period, Airtel Kenya registered significant expansion in network coverage, digital services and customer growth.

Under Malhotra’s leadership, the telecom operator carried out what it tagged as the largest network rollout in its history, deploying more than 2,000 sites across the country. The infrastructure positioned Airtel Kenya among the fastest-growing telcos in the East African country. 

In addition, Airtel Money saw significant growth under the outgoing managing director. Over the past four years, the mobile money service saw its market share increase from 2% to 11%.

The telecoms operator also introduced several customer-focused innovations and digital solutions, such as the rollout of 5G services, eSIM technology, fibre deployment, Spam Alert services, Fibre to the home and smart connect broadband platform.

Tobe is now charged with the role of advancing Airtel Kenya’s competitive strength in a market that has Safaricom, Telkom Kenya, and Jamii Telecommunications Ltd. Such strength will be measured by continued investment in network expansion and mobile money services.