Airtel Africa has posted revenues of $4.67 billion for the nine-month period ended December 2025, underlining strong growth momentum driven by data services, mobile money, and continued network investment.
According to the company’s latest trading update, revenues rose by 24.6% in constant currency and 28.3% in reported currency, supported by currency appreciation and solid underlying business fundamentals. Growth accelerated further in the third quarter, with constant currency revenues rising by 24.7%, translating into a 32.9% increase in reported currency terms.
Airtel Africa’s customer base grew by 10% to 179.4 million subscribers, while data customers increased by 14.6% to 81.8 million. Smartphone penetration climbed by 3.9 percentage points to 48.1%, contributing to a 16.6% rise in data average revenue per user (ARPU) in constant currency.
Data usage per customer rose to 8.6GB per month from 6.9GB in the prior period, a gain the company attributed to sustained network investments.
Mobile money remained a key growth engine, with Airtel Money surpassing two major milestones during the quarter. The customer base crossed 50 million users, reaching 52.0 million—up 17.3% year-on-year—while annualised total processed value (TPV) exceeded $200 billion, rising by 36% to more than $210 billion. Improved digital adoption and a broader ecosystem helped lift mobile money ARPU by 9.8% in constant currency.
Overall, mobile services revenue grew by 23.3% in constant currency, with data revenues—now the largest contributor to group revenues—up 36.5%. Voice revenues grew by 13.5%, while mobile money revenues expanded by 29.4%.
Profit after tax rose sharply to $586 million, compared with $248 million in the previous period. The improvement was driven by higher operating profit and derivative and foreign exchange gains of $99 million, reversing losses of $153 million recorded a year earlier.
To support future growth, Airtel Africa increased capital expenditure by 32.2% to $603 million, rolling out approximately 2,500 new network sites and expanding its fibre footprint by about 4,000 kilometres to more than 81,500km. Population coverage improved to 81.7%, up from 81.1% a year ago.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said the performance reflects the strength of the company’s strategy and execution.
“During the quarter, we accelerated investment to enhance coverage and data capacity while also expanding our fibre network,” Taldar said. “Coupling this investment with innovative partnerships strengthens our customer proposition and positions us to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets.”
He added that Airtel Africa continues to invest in digitisation, technology innovation, and artificial intelligence to improve customer experience and deepen integration between GSM and Airtel Money services.
Smartphone adoption continues to rise across Airtel’s markets, alongside growing demand for reliable, high-speed home broadband connectivity. The company also reaffirmed its commitment to financial inclusion, noting that Airtel Money remains on track for a separate listing in the first half of 2026.
