India's Bharti Airtel plans to set up shop in another African country – Rwanda – despite the drain its existing African operations have been taking on its bottom-line.
The company, India's largest mobile operator, plans to spend $100 million to build out a 2G and 3G network in the nation, Economic Timesreported.
Bharti has received the required licenses from Rwanda's government, and plans to work with the government to roll out services. The operator considers the nation to be a key African telecom market.
Bharti first entered Africa with the $10.7 billion purchase of Saudi Arabian operator Zain's African assets. The deal gave Bharti a presence in 16 African countries.
As of June 30, Bharti had a reported 46.3 million mobile subscribers across the continent, generating an ARPU of $7.30 per month.
The lossmaking operations and capex costs have so far been drain on Bharti's profit. In August for example, the company reported a 27.8% slump in profit, in its sixth straight streak of declines.
Despite this, Bharti in May revealed it planned to pour an extra $1 billion dollars into the continent this year.