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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 per cent in constant currency and 28.3 per cent 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 per cent, translating into a 32.9 per cent increase in reported currency terms. Airtel Africa’s customer base grew by 10 per cent to 179.4 million subscribers, while data customers increased by 14.6 per cent to 81.8 million.
Smartphone penetration climbed by 3.9 percentage points to 48.1 per cent, contributing to a 16.6 per cent 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 million – up 17.3 per cent year-on-year – while annualised total processed value (TPV) exceeded $200 billion, rising by 36 per cent to more than $210 billion.
Improved digital adoption and a broader ecosystem helped lift mobile money ARPU by 9.8 per cent in constant currency. Overall, mobile services revenue grew by 23.3 per cent in constant currency, with data revenues—now the largest contributor to group revenues – up 36.5 per cent.
Voice revenues grew by 13.5 per cent, while mobile money revenues expanded by 29.4 per cent. 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 per cent 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 per cent, up from 81.1 per cent 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. Coupling this investment with innovative partnerships strengthens our customer proposition and positions us to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets,” Taldar said.
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.
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