Airtel Africa has reported a strong start to its 2026/27 financial year, posting a 31 percent increase in first-quarter revenue as demand for mobile data and digital financial services continued to rise across its markets.
Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, which operates in 14 African countries including Tanzania, Mr. Sunil Taldar, says revenue for the quarter ended June 30 rose to $1.853 billion from $1.415 billion a year earlier, while profit after tax increased 27 percent to $198 million.
According to Sunil, revenue in constant currency grew by 21.1 percent, reflecting sustained growth across voice, data and mobile money services. Nigerian revenues grew 29.8% while East Africa and Francophone Africa grew by 17.8% and 18.0%, respectively. The telco also saw its customer base grow by 11.6% to 189 million, with data customers at 87.3 million.
That growth came with an increase in data usage. Data usage per customer grew from 7.8GB to 10.6GB per month over the past year as data traffic grew by 56.3%. Airtel Africa’s customer base grew by 11.6 percent to 189 million, while data subscribers increased by 15.5 percent to 87.3 million.
Mobile money customers rose by 23.3 percent to 56.5 million, supported by rising smartphone adoption and increased use of digital services. Smartphone penetration reached 51 percent, while average monthly data usage per customer climbed to 10.6 gigabytes, driving a 56.3 percent increase in data traffic over the past year.
The Airtel Africa company also reported that annualised transaction value processed through Airtel Money exceeded $245 billion, representing a 51.5 percent increase from a year earlier. Mobile money revenue grew 38.9 percent to $404 million, underlining the growing role of digital financial services in the company’s business.
Mr. Taldar says the results reflected continued investment in network quality, digital platforms and customer experience. “We have started this year with another pleasing performance,” Mr Taldar said, noting that higher smartphone adoption, stronger digital engagement and ongoing investment in network infrastructure continued to support the company’s growth across its markets.
To support future demand, Airtel Africa accelerated capital investment during the quarter, spending $389 million to expand its network. The company rolled out more than 920 new sites, the highest first-quarter deployment in its history, and extended its fibre network to 82,100 kilometres to improve coverage, capacity and service quality.
Despite the higher investment, EBITDA increased 36.6 percent to $928 million, while the EBITDA margin improved to 50.1 percent. Net cash generated from operating activities rose by 38.3 percent to $786 million, demonstrating continued strength in the company’s underlying operations despite rising energy costs.
Looking ahead, Mr. Sunil Taldar says Airtel Africa remains on course to pursue a London listing for its Airtel Money business, subject to regulatory approvals, as part of efforts to unlock long-term value and broaden access to international investors.
