Bharti Airtel shareholders have voted in favor of plans for the Indian telco to expand its stake in its African subsidiary Airtel Africa.

In a stock exchange filing, Bharti Airtel noted that the "overwhelming majority" of its shareholders voted in favor of the deal.

It comes after the telco giant confirmed plans last month to increase its stake in Airtel Africa, as part of a stock swap worth $2.9 billion. This will see Bharti grow its stake in Airtel Africa to 79 percent.

As part of the deal, Bharti is issuing equity shares to Indian Continent Investment Limited, a promoter group entity, on a preferential basis, in exchange for its 16.31 percent stake in Airtel Africa.

“Airtel Africa is central to our growth strategy and is well positioned to deliver robust performance with an increasing contribution to our consolidated revenues," said Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman, Bharti Enterprises.

"The company has always operated at the highest standards of corporate governance and financial discipline, and this overwhelming support reinforces the confidence that the investors have in the organization. Structured as a share swap, India's largest ever transaction preserves capital strength for Airtel’s core operations and future growth ambitions. As we look ahead, we see significant potential in Africa for long-term shareholder value creation.”

Founded in 2010, Airtel Africa provides telecoms services across 14 African countries, including Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Airtel's total subscriber base across these markets sits at around 185 million.

For Mittal, the increase in stake represents a strategy to expand Bharti's telecoms business outside of India. The company has notably built its stake in British telco giant BT to 24.5 percent. Bharti also owns a stake in UK-based satellite company OneWeb.