Airtel Africa gets $200-mn investment from Qatar Investment Authority

The Qatar Investment Authority will invest $200 million in Airtel Africa through a primary equity issuance in the company.

"Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar has agreed to invest $200 million through a primary equity issuance in the company. The proceeds will be used to further reduce Airtel Africa's existing net debt," Airtel said in a statement.

With this fresh investment, the overall debt of Bharti Airtel will reduce to $3.5 billion.

The investment from QIA is in addition to the recent $1.25 billion investment by six leading global investors, including Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel, and SoftBank Group International, in Airtel Africa.

Representatives from the six investors have already joined the Airtel Africa board.

The fresh transaction with QIA will not involve any sale of shares by the existing shareholders, the statement said.

"We are excited to welcome the Qatar Investment Authority as a long-term strategic equity partner. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with QIA," Airtel Africa said.

Airtel Africa Ltd is a pan-African telecommunications company with operations in 14 countries across Africa.

"As a long-term global investor, we are delighted to invest in one of the leading telecommunication companies in Africa. QIA will look forward to supporting Airtel's vision in building a world-class business in the African continent," QIA said.

In 2013, Airtel received investment from the Qatar Foundation Endowment, a entity managed by the Qatar's royal family, which exited from the Indian telecom firm in November 2017 after selling stake for $1.48 billion.