This archive report was first published on 5 August 2020.
On August 5, 2020, Telkom Kenya announced that it was no longer pursuing a proposed joint venture with Airtel Networks Kenya Limited, citing delays in obtaining necessary approvals.
According to Telkom Kenya CEO Mugo Kibati, the decision was made after carefully reviewing available options, and it was mutually agreed upon with Airtel Networks Kenya Limited.
As a result, Telkom Kenya has recalled a redundancy notice it had issued in July 2019, stating that its earlier plans to send home workers would no longer apply.
Initially, Telkom Kenya had announced plans to lay off 575 workers, equivalent to about 72 percent of its workforce, ahead of the proposed merger with Airtel.
Airtel, in its statement, said that the merger was subject to the satisfaction of various conditions precedent, including regulatory approvals.
Despite Airtel Africa Plc and Telkom's respective efforts to reach a successful closure, the transaction had gone through a lengthy process, leading the parties to reconsider their stance.
According to Raghunath Mandava, Airtel Africa CEO and MD, the decision was made to no longer pursue completion of the transaction.
The merger between the two telcos was aimed at creating a unit to challenge Safaricom's market dominance but faced numerous hurdles.
Second-placed Airtel accounted for 26.6 percent of Kenyan mobile telecom subscribers as of March, followed by Telkom with 5.8 percent market share.
