Airtel Africa Plc has reported a strong financial performance for the half year ended 30 September 2026, with revenue increasing by 28.2% to US$3.82 billion, driven by sustained growth in data and mobile money services across its 14 African markets.
In constant currency, revenue grew by 20.8%, reflecting continued demand for mobile connectivity and digital financial services. Profit after tax increased by 20.5% to US$452 million, compared to US$376 million in the corresponding period last year, while underlying EBITDA grew by 23.5% in constant currency to US$1.92 billion.
The Group’s performance was underpinned by strong growth across its three geographical regions, with Nigeria recording 27% revenue growth in constant currency, East Africa growing by 18.2% and Francophone Africa delivering 19.2% growth.
Data services remained a key growth driver, with revenue increasing by 28% in constant currency to US$1.57 billion, accounting for approximately half of total mobile services revenue. This was supported by a 15% increase in the data customer base to 89.9 million and growing smartphone adoption, with smartphone penetration rising to 51.6%. Average smartphone data usage per customer increased to 13.3GB per month, up from 10.1GB in the previous year.
Mobile money continued to strengthen its contribution to the Group’s performance, with revenue growing by 25.8% in constant currency to US$840 million. The customer base increased by 22.4% to 60.9 million, supported by expanding distribution networks, increased digital adoption and a growing ecosystem of payment and financial services. Annualised total processed value reached US$275 billion in the second quarter, reflecting growth of 36.5%.
Overall, Airtel Africa’s total customer base increased by 11.6% to 193.9 million, demonstrating continued demand for its telecommunications and digital financial services across the continent.
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. We are increasingly leveraging AI across the business to deepen customer understanding, accelerate innovation, simplify customer journeys and strengthen the detection of fraud and emerging threats. Combined with our ability to utilise our network, distribution and customer relationships to develop new businesses, these structural drivers underpin our confidence in the Group’s long-term growth prospects.
Despite rising fuel costs continuing to exert inflationary pressure on our cost base, we delivered a record underlying EBITDA margin of 50.4% in Q2’27 through a combination of operational discipline, ongoing cost efficiency programmes and continued scale benefits. Looking ahead, margin performance will continue to be influenced by the macroeconomic environment, including its impact on fuel costs. Our confidence in the growth trajectory of the business and the significant long-term opportunity across our markets underpins our decision to accelerate investment. During the period, we increased the pace of network investment to expand capacity and enhance service quality, positioning the business to capture an increasing share of future growth.
Our mobile money business continues to deliver strong growth and remains a key driver of financial inclusion across our markets, supported by sustained customer acquisition, increasing transaction volumes and ongoing expansion of its product ecosystem. Our mobile money and mobile services businesses will continue to work closely together to capture shared growth opportunities, realise operational synergies and deliver enhanced value for customers across our markets.
Supported by a strong balance sheet and robust cash generation, we remain confident in the opportunities ahead. As more customers embrace digital services and financial inclusion, our continued focus on execution and customer experience positions us to deliver sustainable growth at scale and long-term value for shareholders.”
