Airtel Africa posts strong Nine-Month performance as growth accelerates across markets

Airtel Africa plc reported a robust performance for the nine-month period ended 31 December 2025, underscoring the strength of its growth strategy and operational momentum across its African footprint. The results, released on 30 January 2026, show accelerating revenue growth, rising profitability and continued expansion of its customer base.

The company’s total customers rose by 10% year on year to 179.4 million, supported by sustained investment in network capacity, digitisation and partnerships. Data customers increased by 14.6% to 81.8 million, while smartphone penetration climbed to 48.1%. Higher adoption and usage lifted data ARPU by 16.6% in constant currency, with average monthly data consumption rising to 8.6GB per customer.

Airtel Money continued to scale rapidly during the quarter, crossing two major milestones. The mobile money platform surpassed 50 million subscribers, reaching 52.0 million customers, while annualised total processed value exceeded $210bn in Q3’26, up 36%. Broader ecosystem participation and stronger digital adoption also drove a near 10% increase in constant currency ARPU.

Financially, revenues for the nine-month period rose 24.6% in constant currency to $4.67bn, supported by strong execution and favourable currency movements. Mobile services revenue grew 23.3%, with data revenues up 36.5% and voice revenues rising 13.5%. EBITDA increased 35.9% in reported currency to $2.28bn, with margins expanding to 48.9%, while profit after tax more than doubled to $586m.

The group also accelerated capital investment to support future growth, with capex rising 32.2% to $603m. Around 2,500 new sites were rolled out and the fibre network expanded by approximately 4,000 kilometres to more than 81,500km, lifting population coverage to 81.7%. Improved earnings contributed to a reduction in leverage to 1.9x, down from 2.4x a year earlier.

Commenting on the results, chief executive officer Sunil Taldar said: “These results highlight the strength of our strategy, with strong operating and financial trends across the business, as accelerated investment, innovation and disciplined cost management continue to position us to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets.”

Looking ahead, Airtel Africa said it remains focused on investing in best-in-class connectivity, expanding financial inclusion through Airtel Money and enhancing customer experience through digitisation and AI. The group confirmed it remains on track for the planned listing of Airtel Money in the first half of 2026, reinforcing confidence in the long-term potential of its markets.