Airtel Africa has commenced the second tranche of its $100 million share buyback programme, the telecoms operator said on Wednesday, which marked the start date of the share repurchase.

“The second tranche of the share buy-back will amount to a maximum of $55 million and is anticipated to end on or before 19 November 2025,” Airtel Africa, which operates in 14 African countries, stated in a regulatory filing at the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

The first phase of the $100 million share repurchase ran from 23 December 2024 to 24 April 2025, during which the wireless service provider bought back 26.3 million shares valued at $45 million in aggregate at a volume-weighted average price of GBP135.1 per ordinary share.

Airtel Africa said it has reached a deal with Barclays Capital Securities Limited to oversee the current stage of the buyback and execute on-market purchases of its ordinary shares. It hopes to subsequently buy the ordinary shares from Barclays.

“Under this agreement, Barclays will act as riskless principal and will make decisions independently of the Company,” the telco said.

A share repurchase allows a company to reduce its total issued shares, which automatically increases its earnings per share and can potentially drive up its share price over time. It is generally seen by analysts as one of the means of giving value back to shareholders.

Shares bought back by Airtel Africa under the programme will be cancelled, the company said.

The company launched its first ever share buyback programme on 1 March 2024, which ended on 28 October 2024.

A total of 68.8 million shares worth $100 million were bought back at a volume-weighted average price of GBP112.3 per ordinary shares, Airtel Africa said.

For the financial year ended March 2025, the company posted a net profit of $328 million, helping it to overturn a net loss of $89 million in the previous year.

Management cited a 50 per cent telecom rates hike in Nigeria among the factors that helped the company return to profitability