Airtel Kenya is surviving on a series of shareholder loans from its parent company, most of which it is unable to service, its financial filings show.
Kenya’s second-biggest telco has revealed that the shareholder loans from its holding firm Bharti Airtel Kenya BV shot up to Ksh52.2 billion ($460.9 million) in the year ended December 2020 from Ksh46.6 billion ($411 million) the previous year — as a result of additional lending, postponement of interest payment (capitalisation) and forex losses on the back of a weaker shilling.
