Airtel Africa has reported a 28.2% increase in revenue to US$3.82 billion for the half year ended 30 September 2026. This was driven by strong growth in data and mobile money services across its 14 African markets.
The telecommunications group recorded a 20.5% increase in profit after tax to US$452 million. This is up from US$376 million recorded during the same period last year. Underlying EBITDA also grew by 23.5% in constant currency to US$1.92 billion.
Growth was recorded across all three geographical regions. Nigeria is leading at 27% revenue growth in constant currency, followed by Francophone Africa at 19.2% and East Africa at 18.2%.
Data services remained a major growth driver, with revenue increasing by 28% in constant currency to US$1.57 billion. The data customer base grew by 15% to 89.9 million, while average monthly smartphone data usage increased to 13.3GB per customer, compared to 10.1GB a year earlier.
Airtel Africa’s mobile money revenue grew by 25.8% in constant currency to US$840 million. Its mobile money customer base increased by 22.4% to 60.9 million. Annualised transaction value reached US$275 billion in the second quarter and this represents a 36.5% growth.
The Group’s customer base increased by 11.6% to 193.9 million.
Commenting on the results, Airtel Africa Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said, “The recent IPO of Airtel Money represents a significant milestone for the Group. We retained our shareholding through the IPO and remain a long-term strategic shareholder, with significant exposure to Airtel Money’s future growth and value creation. Over the first half we have delivered another strong operating and financial performance, reflecting the depth of underlying demand across our markets and consistent execution of our strategy, with total customer growth remaining strong and stable at 11.6%. The investment case remains as compelling as ever, supported by favourable demographic and economic trends, strong demand for data and financial services, and smartphones on our network increasing to over 100 million, with substantial headroom for further adoption.”
The company said it plans to accelerate network investment to expand capacity, improve service quality and capture growing demand for mobile connectivity and financial services across its markets.
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