Airtel Africa is winding up its Kenyan wholesale fibre and internet subsidiary, Airtel Kenya Telesonic Limited, just two years after its launch, following accumulated losses of about US$147,000 and the surrender of its operating licence.
The company recorded a net loss of KES16.1 million (about US$124,000) in 2025, compared with KES2.9 million (about US$22,000) in 2024. Its accumulated losses reached KES19.08 million (about US$147,000), while its total assets fell to just KES284,275 (about US$2,200).
The figures are contained in the company’s financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025, which show that the directors concluded that Airtel Kenya Telesonic could no longer continue as a going concern.
The company subsequently moved to surrender its Network Facilities Provider Tier 2 (NFPT2) licence, numbered TL/NFP/T2/01269, to the Communications Authority of Kenya.
In January 2026, the Authority requested the return of the original licence booklet for cancellation. Airtel Kenya Telesonic submitted the booklet on 6 February, the same day its board passed a resolution confirming the surrender.
The company is now awaiting gazettement and completion of the remaining termination procedures.
Airtel Kenya Telesonic reported no revenue in either 2024 or 2025. Its network facilities licence, initially valued at KES15 million (about US$116,000), was fully amortised by the end of 2025, with KES14 million (about US$108,000) charged during the year.
At year-end, the company had only KES284,275 (about US$2,200) in cash, while it owed KES18.5 million (about US$143,000) to Airtel Networks Kenya Limited, a fellow subsidiary.
Total liabilities stood at KES19.26 million (about US$148,000), leaving the company with negative equity of nearly KES19 million (about US$147,000).
The company’s other major expenses in 2025 included KES1.2 million (about US$9,200) in licence and regulatory fees and KES854,192 (about US$6,600) in audit fees.
A deferred tax asset of KES4.68 million (about US$36,000) was also not recognised because management considered it unlikely that future taxable profits would be available to utilise it.
Because the company was no longer operating as a going concern, its 2025 financial statements were prepared on a liquidation basis rather than the normal going-concern basis.
Deloitte & Touche, which audited the accounts, issued an unqualified opinion that the financial statements presented a true and fair view. However, it included an emphasis of matter highlighting that the accounts had not been prepared on a going-concern basis because of the licence surrender and planned wind-down.
Airtel Kenya Telesonic was incorporated as a private limited company and was wholly owned by Airtel Telesonic Kenya Holdings (UK) Limited, which held all 1,000 issued shares at KES100 each.
The company was established as Airtel Africa’s dedicated wholesale fibre arm, targeting governments, large enterprises and cloud hyperscalers across the group’s 14 African markets.
The business is also linked to the 2Africa submarine cable project alongside Meta, Vodacom and MTN, while Airtel Telesonic operates more than 78,000km of terrestrial fibre across the continent.
In Kenya, however, Airtel Kenya Telesonic was unable to compete effectively with established operators including Safaricom, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Seacom and MTN’s Bayobab, and did not record a profit during its operating period.
The final accounts were signed on 31 March 2026 by directors Sanjeet Kumar Pokala and Ashish Malhotra.Currency conversions above use an approximate KES130 = US$1 rate for presentation purposes.
