If you’ve been following the tech scene in Malawi, you know the past few months have felt a bit like a waiting game. While rival network TNM made headlines back in July 2025 by switching on its 5G network in Lilongwe, the market leader, Airtel Malawi, remained relatively quiet.
The silence, it turns out, was just the calm before the storm.
On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, Airtel finally broke that silence with a single, thunderous word that took over social media: “TAFIKAAAA!” (We have arrived!).
But this wasn’t just a standard press release. Airtel didn’t just say they were launching 5G; they threw down a gauntlet. They branded their service as the “Real 5G,” a direct, spicy jab at the competition that suggests: being first is good, but being the best is what matters.
Here is the full story of what happened, why this specific launch matters, and what “Real 5G” actually means for the average Malawian.
The “Real 5G” War: A Clash of Titans
To understand the hype, you have to look at the timeline.
- July 2025: TNM launches 5G, focusing heavily on Lilongwe. They plant the flag as the first to bring the next generation of connectivity to the Warm Heart of Africa.
- November 2025: Airtel counters. Instead of a small pilot, they launch with 56 live sites across 10 districts, including Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu, Zomba, and Mangochi.
This helps explain the “Real 5G” marketing. By rolling out to 10 districts immediately rather than just the capital, Airtel is trying to frame the conversation around scale and reliability rather than just the technology itself. It’s a classic corporate power move: “You started the race, but we’re finishing it.”
What is VoLTE and Why Are They Shouting About It?
Alongside 5G, you might have seen another acronym flying around in their ads: VoLTE (Voice over LTE).
If you’re wondering what that is, think of it this way: Until now, when you made a phone call on 4G, your phone would often secretly drop down to 3G or 2G to handle the voice part. That’s why your internet would sometimes slow to a crawl the moment a call came in.
VoLTE fixes that. It keeps your call on the high-speed 4G network. This means:
- Crystal clear audio (High Definition voice).
- Multitasking: You can stay on a fast Zoom call or download a file while talking on the phone.
Airtel claims to have the “widest VoLTE coverage” in the country right now, which is arguably a bigger deal for daily users than 5G, given that most people still make traditional phone calls.
The “Backstage” Drama: Infrastructure and Survival
While the ads are flashy, the real story is happening behind the scenes. Building a 5G network in 2025 Malawi hasn’t been easy.
During the launch event at Capital Hill, Airtel’s Managing Director, Aashish Dutt, had a candid conversation with the Minister of Information, Shadric Namalomba. He revealed the heavy lifting required to get here:
- The Forex Crunch: Importing high-tech tower equipment requires foreign currency, which has been scarce.
- The Power Problem: Running high-speed towers requires reliable power. To fight this (and vandalism), Airtel has struck a deal with ESCOM to run fiber cables along overhead power lines, a smart way to keep the internet on even when things get tough.
- The Starlink Play: Perhaps most interestingly, Airtel confirmed they are partnering with Starlink (Elon Musk’s satellite internet) to patch coverage gaps in rural areas where building a tower just doesn’t make financial sense.6
The Elephant in the Room: Cost
Of course, you can’t talk about 5G in Malawi without talking about the price. “Real 5G” is great, but can they afford it?
Minister Namalomba admitted that smartphone penetration is still low because taxes on devices are too high. He hinted at a policy shift: instead of taxing the phone (which keeps people offline), the government might shift to taxing the service (airtime/data) or finding other revenue streams.
For now, Airtel’s “TAFIKAAAA” moment is a victory for infrastructure. Whether it becomes a victory for the consumer will depend on how quickly those data bundles, and 5G-capable phones, become affordable for the student in Mzuzu and the farmer in Mangochi that Dutt spoke so passionately about.
So, yes, Airtel has “arrived.” Now we wait to see if the prices will arrive at a level where they can all join the party.
