Airtel Africa has recorded a 28.2 percent increase in reported revenue to US$3.823 billion in the six months to September 2026, driven by rising demand for mobile data and financial services across its markets.
The telecommunications group said its customer base grew by 11.6 percent to 193.9 million, while mobile money customers increased by 22.4 percent to 60.9 million, reflecting growing adoption of digital financial services.
In its half-year trading update, Airtel Africa said data customers rose by 15 percent to 89.9 million, with smartphone penetration reaching 51.6 percent. Average smartphone data usage also increased to 13.3 gigabytes per customer from 10.1 gigabytes recorded in the previous period.
The growth in data consumption helped push data revenue up by 28 percent in constant currency, while mobile money revenue grew by 25.8 percent, highlighting the increasing contribution of digital services to the group’s business.
Mobile money transactions also continued to expand, with the annualised total processed value rising by 36.5 percent to US$275 billion in the second quarter of the 2026/27 financial year.
Despite rising fuel costs and inflationary pressure, Airtel Africa maintained strong profitability, with underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin reaching a record 50.4 percent in the second quarter.
Profit after tax increased to US$452 million from US$376 million in the previous period, while basic earnings per share rose to 10.2 US cents from 8.3 US cents.
Chief executive officer Sunil Taldar said the group’s performance reflected strong demand for data and financial services, supported by continued investment in network infrastructure and digital capabilities.
He said the company had increased its investment pace, spending US$657 million on capital expenditure during the half-year and adding approximately 4,200 network sites to expand coverage and improve service quality.
Taldar said Airtel Africa was also increasingly using artificial intelligence to understand customer needs, improve services and strengthen fraud detection, while expanding opportunities in digital financial services.
The company also declared an interim dividend of 3.1 US cents per share, representing a 9.2 percent increase, and returned US$108.7 million to shareholders through its share buyback programme.
Airtel Africa said its mobile money business remained a key driver of financial inclusion, with continued customer acquisition, higher transaction volumes and expansion of its digital products supporting future growth.
