At an event organized to distinguish excellence within the telecoms sector across the Middle East and Africa, Indian multinational operator Bharti Airtel was announced 2013 ‘African Operator of the Year’ by CommsMEA.

Airtel beat other teleco giants on the continent like the MTN Group, Vodacom and Algeria-based Nedjma, according to a Biz Tech report.

“We are humbled by this recognition and the trust stakeholders have placed on Airtel since our entry into Africa in 2010,” Manoj Kohli, CEO at Airtel said in Dubai where the ceremony was held.

The operator currently provides 3G services in 14 African countries and has the largest 3G and Mobile Commerce country footprint in sub Saharan Africa.

Airtel also operates a Mobile Money platform which it said will facilitate access to financial services for the unbanked population.

In March 2010, Bharti struck a $9 billion deal to buy Kuwait’s Zain operations in 15 African countries, in India’s second biggest overseas acquisition after Tata Steel’s $13 billion buy of Corus in 2007.

Now with over 275 million customers in 20 countries, the operator is considered the 3rd largest mobile telecommunications company in the world by subscribers.

The multinational is credited with pioneering the business strategy of outsourcing its business operations and building the ‘minutes factory’ model of low cost and high volumes.

Airtel now dominates a number of countries like Malawi, Niger, Chad and Congo, where it boasts market shares 72 percent, 68 percent, 69 percent and 55 percent respectively.

The company holds second place in the mobile telecom market in Madagascar with a 39 percent market share and over 1.4 million customers.

In  Nigeria, Africa’s most populous, Airtel has grown its subscriber base (since its takeover from Zain) by 31 percent or an additional 5.5 million customers. As at June 2013, it had over 21.5 million subscribers.

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