Airtel Africa Plc has started a new tranche of its share buyback programme, aiming to repurchase up to 12.03 million ordinary shares, equal to 0.33 per cent of its issued share capital.
The telecommunications company disclosed this in a corporate announcement dated November 5, 2026. It said the latest tranche is part of a wider programme, first announced on May 22, 2026, to return cash to shareholders under its capital allocation policy.
The latest tranche is expected to run until December 22, 2026, at the latest, unless it is terminated earlier in line with the terms of the agreement.
Airtel Africa said the new tranche follows the completion of the first tranche on September 28, 2026. That leaves Board authority to repurchase up to 12,033,748 additional ordinary shares.
The original programme provided for the repurchase of up to 1 per cent of the company’s issued share capital as of May 22, 2026.
For the latest tranche, the company has entered into agreements with Citigroup Global Markets Limited (Citi). Citi will make on-market purchases of Airtel Africa’s ordinary shares and then sell them to the company.
Citi will act as a riskless principal under the arrangements. These have two parallel elements: a non-discretionary component, under which Citi makes trading decisions independently, and a discretionary component, through which Airtel Africa may give Citi instructions for share purchases.
The company said any purchases will be carried out within pre-set parameters and in compliance with applicable UK listing rules and market abuse regulations.
Airtel Africa stated that the sole purpose of the buyback programme is to reduce the company’s capital, which means all shares acquired under it will be cancelled.
The company also disclosed that shareholders, at its July 9, 2026 Annual General Meeting, authorised it to repurchase a maximum of 364,577,234 ordinary shares.
After the completion of the initial tranche, the remaining authority under this general shareholder approval stood at 352,727,390 shares.
The company clarified, however, that the latest buyback arrangements will not involve purchases on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
The discretionary arrangements may also include irrevocable, non-discretionary instructions that allow Citi to keep operating the buyback programme during closed periods. Citi will run this element autonomously during such periods.
The latest tranche builds on Airtel Africa’s continuing efforts to return cash to shareholders through share repurchases. The company has already bought back millions of shares since launching the programme in May 2026.
In May, Airtel Africa launched a $110 million share buyback programme targeting the repurchase of up to 1 per cent of its issued share capital.
The initial arrangement involved Barclays Capital Securities Limited executing the purchases before transferring the shares to the company for cancellation.
By September 23, 2026, the company had repurchased about 19.91 million ordinary shares under the programme. This followed a fresh purchase of 798,919 shares at a volume-weighted average price of 322.59 pence per share.
The September update also showed that Airtel Africa had bought the shares at a cumulative volume-weighted average price of 336.05 pence per share since the programme began in May.
The latest tranche introduces Citigroup Global Markets Limited (Citi) as the institution executing the new arrangement, replacing Barclays in the earlier arrangement.
