Shortly after attending Airtel Money Kenya’s Bizna Wallet and Si Ni Mi Nakushow cashback launch on Monday, I had the opportunity to sit down with Djibril Tobe, the recently appointed Managing Director of Airtel Kenya, for a special edition of the Pure Digital Passion Podcast.

This was one of Djibril’s first in-depth media conversations since taking over the Kenyan business — and it quickly became about much more than his new position or that morning’s Airtel Money announcements.

We discussed his first impressions of Kenya, the significant growth he inherits, Airtel Money’s next frontier, the role of the My Airtel App, home and business broadband, Direct-to-Cell satellite connectivity with SpaceX and the 44-megawatt Nxtra hyperscale data centre under construction at Tatu City.

Taken together, these initiatives reveal a much bigger Airtel strategy.

Airtel is not simply trying to sell more SIM cards, bundles or mobile-money transactions.

It is increasingly attempting to build a connected digital platform spanning telecommunications, fintech, software, broadband, satellite connectivity and local cloud infrastructure.

Learning Kenya Before Trying To Change It

Djibril joined Airtel Kenya after leading Airtel Congo-Brazzaville and previously holding senior roles in markets including Chad, Burkina Faso and Guinea. Airtel officially appointed him to succeed Ashish Malhotra at the end of June 2026.

One of the most striking aspects of our conversation was the humility with which he approached the Kenyan market.

“I come here with a lot of humility. I think I have to learn a lot from this market.”

Rather than immediately announcing sweeping changes, Djibril said he was giving himself roughly one quarter to travel, listen and understand the realities of the market.

He had already visited several parts of the country and identified a few early themes.

Kenyans want better network quality, faster internet, reliable connectivity wherever they are and more affordable ways to move money.

He also spoke enthusiastically about Kenya’s young, highly connected population and the potential of digital tools to support entrepreneurship and economic value creation.

This listen-first approach is important.

Kenya may offer significantly greater scale than many of the markets Djibril previously managed, but it is also one of Africa’s most sophisticated and demanding telecommunications and digital finance markets.

Customers already understand what good mobile connectivity and mobile money should feel like.

The challenge is not only offering another option.

It is giving people a reason to change deeply established behaviour.

Djibril Is Inheriting Significant Momentum

Djibril is taking over a business that has changed considerably during the past four years.

According to Airtel Kenya, the company:

• Expanded from 16 million to more than 24 million customers.
• Rolled out over 2,000 additional network sites.
• More than doubled its revenue.
• Increased Airtel Money’s market share from approximately 2% to 11%.

Djibril paid tribute to his predecessor and described the next challenge in very clear terms:

“First and foremost for me is to maintain, grow and strengthen that momentum.”

He compared the previous leadership team’s achievement to moving Airtel Kenya “from zero to one.”

His responsibility is now to take the business further through customer focus, innovation and what he repeatedly described as disciplined, seamless execution.

That sounds simple, but the next phase may be more difficult than the first.

A challenger can grow rapidly by expanding network coverage, improving affordability and attracting customers dissatisfied with the market leader.

Sustaining that momentum requires deeper engagement.

Customers must do more than own an Airtel SIM card.

They must increasingly use Airtel for data, broadband, payments, financial services and digital self-service.

The 14 Million-Customer Airtel Money Opportunity

This led to one of the most interesting statistics in our conversation.

Djibril said approximately six million customers use Airtel Money out of an active Airtel connectivity base of around 19.5 million to 20 million.

That leaves an estimated 14 million existing Airtel customers who use the network for voice or data but do not yet use Airtel Money.

“I want to win those 14 million customers.”

This is an important distinction.

Airtel Money does not necessarily need to begin by persuading customers of another network to abandon their primary mobile money platform.

Its most immediate opportunity may be persuading people who already carry an Airtel SIM card to activate and regularly use the accompanying wallet.

That helps explain the launch of:

• Airtel Money Bizna Wallet.
• Fifty per cent cashback on qualifying transactions.
• The Si Ni Mi Nakushow thematic campaign.
• Continued investment in the underlying Airtel Money platform.
• Future expansion into products such as digital credit.

Djibril’s formulation was particularly revealing.

Many Kenyans already carry two SIM cards.

Airtel now wants them to become comfortable carrying and using two mobile money wallets.

This is a more pragmatic strategy than expecting an immediate, wholesale migration away from M-PESA.

The second wallet can initially win specific use cases through affordability, cashback, interoperability, cross-border payments or a better digital experience.

Over time, repeated use can build familiarity and trust.

Bizna Wallet, Cashback & Behaviour Change

Djibril described Bizna Wallet as a response to a genuine merchant need: separating business money from personal funds.

For small traders, kiosk owners and other informal businesses, receiving revenue through the same wallet used for personal spending makes it difficult to understand daily sales, expenses, working capital and profitability.

Bizna Wallet establishes a clearer boundary between the entrepreneur and the enterprise.

Airtel also replaced Rudishiwa airtime rewards with actual cash rewards. Customers now receive 50% of eligible transaction charges as cash rather than airtime.

The difference matters.

Cash is more flexible and can be transferred into the main wallet for a wider range of financial needs.

However, Djibril made clear that the new Si Ni Mi Nakushow campaign is not simply a promotion.

It is an education and behaviour-change campaign intended to communicate that Airtel Money is a viable alternative for PayBills, merchant payments, bank transfers and cross-network transactions.

“This is just the beginning of the journey.”

He also teased further developments, including a stepped up digital loans proposition, although he did not provide detailed launch timelines.

The My Airtel App As Airtel’s Digital Front Door

Another major part of our conversation focused on the My Airtel App.

I have increasingly used the application for mobile bundles, Airtel Money transactions, home internet payments and, more recently, sending money to someone in Tanzania.

Djibril sees the app as much more than an alternative interface to USSD.

It brings together:

• Airtel connectivity services.
• Airtel Money.
• Digital self-service.
• PIN and account support.
• Cross-border transfers.
• Third-party partner services.
• API-based integrations.

He also invited Kenyan software developers, fintechs and startups to integrate Airtel Money into their own applications.

This is strategically important.

A mobile operator’s app can remain a digital shop where customers buy bundles and check balances.

Alternatively, it can become the primary digital front door into the entire customer relationship.

Airtel appears to be aiming for the second model.

Djibril argued that more support functions should also move into self-service so customers do not have to visit shops or wait on call-centre lines for routine account and transaction issues.

Cross-Border Payments Are Already Becoming More Practical

During the interview, I shared my experience of using the My Airtel App to send money to a user in Tanzania.

The process was remarkably straightforward.

I selected the country, entered the Airtel Money number and followed the transaction through the application without needing to find a separate USSD code.

This is one of the Airtel ecosystem’s potentially underappreciated advantages.

Airtel operates across multiple African markets, creating the possibility of easier cross-border payments within its footprint.

Djibril linked this to the broader question of African integration.

If movement between African countries becomes easier, digital money should also become easier to move across borders.

The challenge is awareness.

Many customers may already have access to capabilities they do not know exist — which is another reason Airtel is investing in a wider thematic campaign rather than promoting only individual products.

Airtel’s Broadband Ladder

Our conversation then moved from mobile money into broadband.

Djibril described what is effectively a broadband progression:

1. Indoor wireless units for entry-level home connectivity.
2. Outdoor units that connect more directly with the mobile network.
3. Fibre for customers whose demand ultimately exceeds what wireless access can reliably support.

This is a sensible segmentation strategy.

Not every home or business immediately needs fibre, and fibre is not economically practical in every location.

Fixed-wireless broadband can bring customers online faster, while fibre becomes the premium long-term solution in high-demand areas.

Djibril also highlighted the jobs created through the outdoor-unit model, including installers, field sales teams and technical support personnel.

Direct-to-Cell Will Complement — Not Replace — The Mobile Network

Airtel’s partnership with SpaceX could extend connectivity into areas where low population density makes conventional tower infrastructure difficult to justify.

Djibril said the Direct-to-Cell service had already been successfully piloted in Kenya and was awaiting regulatory approval.

He also noted that Kenya was the first Airtel Africa operation to conduct the pilot.

Airtel Africa’s official announcement confirms that it successfully tested Starlink Mobile data and messaging services in Kenya in March 2026. The initial use cases should therefore be understood as complementary data and messaging coverage rather than a complete immediate replacement for terrestrial mobile networks.

Djibril summarised what customers ultimately want in a memorable way:

“Give me good network, give me high-speed internet and, whenever I have a pain point, fix it.”

That may be the simplest summary of Airtel Kenya’s challenge.

Affordability brings customers through the door.

Reliability, coverage and problem resolution determine whether they stay.

Nxtra & Airtel’s Move Into B2B Infrastructure

The final part of our conversation focused on the Nxtra by Airtel Africa data centre being developed at Tatu City.

The 44-megawatt facility is expected to be commissioned during the first quarter of 2027 and is being positioned to serve enterprises, hyperscalers, governments, startups and SMEs.

Djibril described the project as a breakthrough in Airtel’s transition from serving primarily individual consumers to supporting businesses.

The data centre could host cloud platforms, financial-services workloads, applications and data-intensive services closer to Kenyan users.

Potential benefits include:

• Lower latency.
• More local hosting options.
• Greater infrastructure resilience.
• Support for cloud and artificial-intelligence workloads.
• Improved options for organisations pursuing data-sovereignty requirements.
• New capacity for banks, government institutions, enterprises and technology companies.

Djibril said global hyperscalers had already expressed interest in using the infrastructure and that Airtel also intends to develop tailored propositions for Kenyan SMEs.

There is an important nuance.

Building a local data centre does not automatically mean all Kenyan user data or internet traffic will remain inside the country.

That will depend on which platforms deploy locally, what workloads are hosted there, the architecture chosen by customers and the governing commercial and regulatory arrangements.

Nevertheless, the facility could materially strengthen Kenya’s position as an East African cloud, AI and digital infrastructure hub.

The Bigger Airtel Kenya Strategy

The most important takeaway from my conversation with Djibril is that these initiatives should not be viewed separately.

Airtel is building multiple layers of a broader digital platform:

• Mobile connectivity
• Mobile money
• Consumer and business applications
• Developer APIs
• Home and business broadband
• Fibre infrastructure
• Satellite-enabled coverage
• Cloud and data entre infrastructure

The Bizna Wallet and cashback launch may have created the immediate news cycle.

But the longer-term story is about Airtel attempting to move beyond being viewed as Kenya’s more affordable mobile-network alternative.

It wants to become a more significant digital finance, broadband, software and infrastructure company.

Airtel remains the challenger.

However, it is increasingly a challenger with the scale, products and infrastructure required to become much more consequential.

Djibril’s first few months will be spent listening and learning.

What follows will depend on whether Airtel can translate its growing portfolio into a consistently better customer experience.

As he told me at the end of our conversation, there is a lot more to come.

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