Airtel Kenya says it is pursuing growth in Kenya’s mobile market with a multipronged strategy focused on affordability, network expansion, and customer-centric initiatives.
Airtel notes that affordability, particularly in mobile money transactions,. Their “Rudishiwa Transaction Fee Campaign,” launched in December 2023 and continuing, reimburses customers for transaction fees.
As Managing Director Ashish Malhotra explained, “When you transfer money from your bank to your Airtel Money wallet, we will see what the bank has charged, and we will give it back to you as airtime. The airtime has no expiry, and you can keep it for as long as it takes.”
This cashback offer, converted to airtime, applies to Airtel Paybill services and agent withdrawals.
Airtel Money CEO Ann Kinuthia Otieno says, “It doesn’t mean that transactions in this country must be so high for us to make money, okay? If you are paying at any of the PayBill services, there is a charge. That charge doesn’t have to be that high. We are still making money while being affordable.”
Malhotra further says the value proposition aims to ensure every customer has an alternative that gives the best value.
“Nobody is new to mobile money in this country. It’s one of the countries that have mobile money penetration pretty decently and is well established. So for me, it’s about giving it a chance, giving it a shot. You have a value proposition in the market.”
Network Expansion and 5G Rollout
Airtel is investing in network infrastructure with over 4,200 sites in the country.
“We have aggressive and ambitious plans for the coming year,” said Malhotra. “I may not be able to disclose the exact number of sites across the country because we are finalising the numbers, but within 60 days we shall inform the media, but am sure they will not be more than 1,000 because we have covered a substantial amount of Kenya in the last year.”
In July 2023, they launched 5G in 372 sites across 16 counties. They are also focusing on increasing their agent network. Kinuthia-Otieno said, “Currently, we have 90,000 agents with 67 shops, two million paybill merchants, four million customers on Airtel Money and 2,500 exclusive branches. We target to have 105,000 agents by the first quarter of this year as we target more customers.”
Competitive Data and Voice Bundles
We are today excited to announce the launch of *Smarta Bundles*, an exciting offer that redefines the ‘Smarta’ way of living.
With the Smarta bundles packages, customers will enjoy the benefits of voice minutes across all networks, SMS, and data bundles. pic.twitter.com/KqgZSYfyT3
— Airtel Kenya (@AIRTEL_KE) February 13, 2025
Airtel is also introducing competitive data and voice bundles, like the “Smarta Bundles,” which offer data, voice minutes across networks, and SMS.
Malhotra described the bundles as a Valentine’s offer with packages at Sh1,000 and Sh1,500 for 30 days, emphasizing rollover data: “If you are not able to use your data for that particular day, it’s rolled over to another day. And if you use 20GB of data within a month, when you reload on the last day of the month, the 10GB balance is rolled over to the next month, hence no expiry.”
The bundles also include free Airtel-to-Airtel calls and reduced transaction fees.
“This is not about just a product or pricing. It’s about convenience and freedom; it’s about just being connected throughout the month.”
Smarta Bundles Pricing
| Bundle Plan | Price (KES) | Validity | Data (Daily/Monthly) | Airtel-to-Airtel Minutes | All-Network Minutes | SMS (Any Network) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smarta Bundle 1000 | 1,000 | 30 Days | 1GB/day (30GB total) | 3,000 | 400 | 2,000 |
| Smarta Bundle 1500 | 1,500 | 30 Days | 2GB/day (60GB total) | 3,000 | 900 | 5,000 |
Market Share and Competition
A recent Communications Authority report (covering July-September 2024) revealed that Airtel subscribers spent more time on single on-net calls than Safaricom customers (2.8 minutes vs. 1.4 minutes).
Airtel is targeting the unbanked population (21.1%) and emphasizing service-based competition. Kinuthia-Otieno stated, “Competition should only be on the service offering.”
Overall Market Growth
During the first quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year, mobile subscriptions rose by 1.6% to 70 million, driving an increase in domestic voice traffic. Mobile money subscriptions also grew to 40.6 million. Airtel’s strategy positions them to capitalize on this growth.