Airtel Africa logo

The long-awaited rebranding of Zain Africa to Airtel Africa has finally happened. Bharti Airtel had earlier announced that the rebranding exercise would take place simultaneously in all the 15 African countries in which Airtel operates.

The latest business news from Kenya and Nigeria confirm that this has indeed taken place. Zain Nigeria is therefore no more, now we have Airtel Nigeria. Likewise, Zain Kenya is now officially Airtel Kenya.

Other African countries where the change is expected to take place are Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo (Brazaville), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

The rebranding comes five months after Bharti Airtel acquired all the African operations of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain). The official entry of Bharti Airtel is expected to further push the growth of mobile telecommunications in Africa. The Indian company is optimistic that it will replicate the success it has had in India, and hopes to become the market leader in the region.

Already, in Kenya, Airtel’s entry resulted in highly reduced rates for calls and SMS. This sparked an unprecedented price-war with all other mobile network operators in Kenya, especially Safaricom. Airtel Kenya’s plans for the data market are not yet very clear, but that market is likely to be the next battlefront with Safaricom.