Airtel Africa Revenue Rises 28.2% to $3.82 Billion in First-Half 2026 Results

Airtel Africa  has reported results for the half year ended 30 September 2026, with revenue up 28.2% in reported currency to $3,823m and 20.8% in constant currency. The company said the growth came across all its regions and business segments. Mobile services grew by almost 19% in constant currency, helped by data revenue growth of 28%, while mobile money revenue grew 25.8% in constant currency.

Airtel Africa’s customer base grew 11.6% to 193.9 million, with data customers up 15% to 89.9 million. Mobile money customers rose 22.4% to 60.9 million. Smartphone penetration increased to 51.6%, and smartphone data usage per customer reached 13.3 GB, up from 10.1 GB a year earlier. Constant currency data ARPU grew 10.7%. Annualised total processed value (TPV) on mobile money grew 36.5% to $275bn in Q2’27.

Regionally, constant currency revenue growth in Francophone Africa accelerated to 20.3% in Q2’27. Nigeria grew by 24.4% and East Africa by 18.6%.

Underlying EBITDA rose 32.8% to $1,921m, with the margin at 50.3%. The company said the margin reached an all-time high of 50.4% in Q2’27, up 144 bps, despite inflationary pressure from higher fuel costs. It credited operating leverage and its cost efficiency programme.

Operating profit rose 34.2% to $1,286m. Profit after tax improved to $452m from $376m, despite higher finance costs, lower foreign exchange and derivative gains, and exceptional items of $55m. Those items relate to an in-principle settlement in one of the group’s subsidiaries and Airtel Money IPO expenses. Basic EPS rose to 10.2 cents from 8.3 cents.

Capital expenditure more than doubled to $657m as the company accelerated investment. It added about 4,200 sites during the period and is supporting new businesses, including home broadband. Leverage improved from 2.1x to 1.6x, and lease-adjusted leverage improved to 0.5x from 0.8x. The Board declared an interim dividend of 3.1 cents per share, up 9.2%, and the company returned $108.7m to shareholders through its share buyback programme.

 “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.”

– Sunil Taldar, Chief executive officer, Airtel Africa 

“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.”

– Sunil Taldar, Chief executive officer, Airtel Africa 

“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.”

– Sunil Taldar, Chief executive officer, Airtel Africa 

“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.”

– Sunil Taldar, Chief executive officer, Airtel Africa 

Airtel Africa operates in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, offering mobile voice, data and mobile money services. Management hosted an analyst and investor presentation at 12:00pm UK time on 30 October 2026.