Airtel Africa appoints Goriola Bakare to lead group-wide home broadband strategy

Airtel Africa has appointed Goriola Bakare as its Home Broadband Experience Lead, a role effective from 1 October 2026. The appointment places a senior telecommunications executive with over 16 years of service at the company in charge of shaping the group’s approach to home connectivity across its various operating markets. Bakare’s new responsibilities focus on translating group-level priorities into actionable initiatives at the market level, aiming to create a scalable framework for broadband expansion.

In this group-wide position, Bakare will work directly with Airtel Africa’s operating companies to address key commercial challenges. His mandate includes strengthening customer acquisition strategies, enhancing digital engagement channels, and improving customer retention rates. Furthermore, he is tasked with developing scalable commercial models that allow the group to grow revenue from each broadband connection efficiently. This role is designed to ensure that successful tactics implemented in one country can be replicated across the broader African network, thereby improving operational efficiency and scaling speed.

Background

Bakare’s appointment follows a period of significant leadership experience within the Airtel group. From October 2024 to March 2026, he served as the Acting Director of Home Broadband Business at Airtel Nigeria. During this 18-month tenure, he was responsible for the unit’s overall commercial performance, including revenue growth, product strategy, and customer lifecycle management. His professional duties encompassed creating fresh broadband solutions, spotting market prospects, and consolidating Airtel Nigeria's standing in the residential connection market.

After his tenure in Nigeria, Bakare completed a half-year strategic assignment with Bharti Airtel in India, spanning from April to September 2026. This assignment was part of the company’s Talent Exchange Programme and focused on studying the operating models, commercial practices, and digital customer journeys behind Airtel India’s home broadband business. The objective was to identify practices with potential application across Airtel Africa’s markets, providing Bakare with a benchmark for his new group-level responsibilities.

Bakare joined Airtel in 2009 and has held numerous roles spanning finance, business planning, strategy, and digital products. Prior to his broadband leadership roles, he served as Head of Products at Airtel Nigeria, overseeing strategy for voice, data, and broadband services. He has also held positions as Head of Strategy, Partnerships and Commercial Project Management Office, and Head of Home Broadband Products, Pricing and Solutions. Prior to entering the telecom industry, Bakare gained experience in the financial sector, working with Skye Bank and Pacific Holdings. He possesses a BSc in Banking and Finance along with an MBA in Strategic Management, both earned at Babcock University in Nigeria. Additionally, he is a graduate of the first India-Africa Global Accelerator Programme offered by Airtel Africa.

Why it matters

This hiring decision aligns with a wider pattern among African telecom providers to broaden their income sources past standard mobile voice and data services. As the industry seeks to expand connectivity, home broadband has emerged as a critical area for growth. For Airtel Africa, the ability to standardize and scale broadband operations across multiple markets is essential for maintaining competitive advantage. By centralizing the experience agenda under a single leader with cross-market exposure, the group aims to improve the efficiency of its spending and accelerate the rollout of successful commercial models. The role addresses fundamental commercial questions facing broadband operators, specifically how to attract new subscribers, retain existing ones, and maximize revenue per connection.

What happens next

Bakare is now expected to begin translating the group’s broadband priorities into specific market-level initiatives. His primary objective is to facilitate the creation of a scalable home broadband operational model that can be implemented throughout Airtel Africa's different subsidiaries. The implementation of these strategies will likely involve close collaboration with local management teams to adapt group-wide best practices to specific market conditions.