Thanks to strategic tariff adjustments and rising demand for data services, Airtel Nigeria recorded strong double-digit growth in mobile service revenue.

The country also saw a surge in smartphone adoption, contributing to a broader increase in data consumption, which helped push data revenue growth to over 38% Group-wide.

In line with Airtel’s mission to bridge the digital divide, Nigeria witnessed one of the highest increases in data users and 4G coverage, backed by ongoing network expansion and fibre rollouts.

The introduction of innovative solutions like Airtel Spam Alert, an AI-powered anti-fraud tool, further strengthened trust in digital services and underlined the operator’s customer-first approach.

Sunil Taldar, CEO of Airtel Africa, noted:

“Nigeria remains a cornerstone of our operations, not just in terms of scale but in setting the pace for innovation and execution. The impact of our pricing updates and product expansion has been felt in Nigeria, with results showing improved customer engagement and service uptake.”

Airtel Nigeria also played a major role in the Group’s mobile money growth, helping expand access to financial services and boost transaction values as part of a broader push toward digital financial inclusion.

With macroeconomic challenges beginning to stabilise and digital demand continuing to rise, Airtel Nigeria is well-positioned to maintain its leadership in delivering affordable, high-quality connectivity and financial services to millions of Nigerians.

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Have you ever won a “N5 million giveaway” from a number you’ve never dialled? Or been warned that your BVN would be “blocked in 24 hours” unless you click a link? If you never fell for these, then congratulations, you’re a part of Nigeria’s club named, The National Association of Spam SMS Survivors.

That’s not a real club though, but seriously, in 2024 alone, fraud in Africa surged by 21%, with phishing and SMS scams responsible for nearly half (48%) of all incidents.

As revealed by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the country’s financial sector lost over N52.26 billion to fraud, a 350% increase, over five years.

This tells us that mobile networks are no longer used as just channels of communication, they are becoming active fields for criminals.

This is why Airtel’s launch of a Spam Alert Service in March 2025 couldn’t have been better timed. It is a commendable effort that also signifies in mobile security across Africa. It is beyond merely reacting to fraud; it appears to be preventing it in real time.

The Scale of the Problem

Nigeria is ranked 7th globally for spam SMS. Research shows that 87% of mobile users in the country receive unsolicited messages, many of which are fraudulent.

Airtel itself reported that its internal analysis showed that 60% of its customers were receiving spam monthly.

These are not just annoying messages, they open the gates to fraud, asking users to click dangerous links or share sensitive data.

And while East Africa leads the continent with a 27% fraud rejection rate, West and Central Africa still struggle at 22%. The threat has gone beyond a telecoms issue, we can see it’s now an economic and societal one.

Airtel’s Intelligent Countermeasure

Airtel Africa, with over 150 million subscribers and operations in 14 countries, has responded with a network-level AI-powered Spam Alert Service.

While some members of the public have raised concerns over likely privacy breaches, Airtel has confirmed that the Artificial Intelligence in the backend of the Spam Alert Service does not read user messages. Instead, it analyses over 250 parameters including the frequency of the sender, message volume, link patterns, and geographical spread.

At its core, the service simply identifies and flags suspicious SMS messages in real time, labelling them as “Suspected SPAM” and alerting the recipient immediately.

It requires no app download, no user configuration, and is automatically activated for all Airtel users, smartphone or feature phone. It’s a simple, although not easy, solution to a thorny problem.

Using a proprietary dual-layer protection system, one at the network level and another at the IT systems level, Airtel AI Spam Alert Service is reported to process over 1.5 billion messages in under two milliseconds.

Real Time Results

Between it launch in Nigeria on March 13 and May 20, 2025, just two months, the Spam Alert Service flagged 9,667,008 suspicious messages, according to Airtel reporting. That number includes 528,080 sent by users on the Airtel network (on-net) and 9,138,928 sent by users from other networks (off-net).

This staggering number indicates both the scale of fraud attempts and the importance of cross-network security measures.

The Airtel system doesn’t just defend its own users, it monitors the messages entering the network from outside, offering an additional layer of safety for subscribers.

According to Dinesh Balsingh, CEO of Airtel Nigeria, this innovation reiterates the strength of the telco’s AI-driven infrastructure in tackling the threat of spam and scam messages.

“We understand that trust is the cornerstone of digital communication,” he stated, adding that, “This is why the AI is constantly learning, so as to keep pace with the changes in methods employed by spammers.”

Why This is a Game Changer

• Network-Level Protection: Unlike most solutions that depend on user-side apps, Airtel’s service operates within its core infrastructure; it is always on and scanning, making it harder for threats to go undetected.
• No User Action Required: There are no installations, updates, or settings for users to worry about. Every Airtel user, regardless of their phone type, gets protected by default.
• Real-Time Alerts: The AI flags spam SMS in milliseconds, giving users feedback on potentially harmful messages as the messages arrive.
• Scalable and Inclusive: Whether you’re using a basic feature phone in rural Tanzania or a smartphone in Lagos, you get the same level of protection, and this makes the service replicable in all of Airtel’s markets across Africa.

National Support and Expansion

Dr. Bosun Tijani, minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, endorsed the solution, commending Airtel for aligning with national priorities. He stressed that the Airtel Spam Alert Service demonstrates how artificial intelligence can enhance online security and economic empowerment.

Similarly, Dr. Aminu Maida, EVC/CEO of the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), noted the sector-wide value, pointing out that it boosts consumer trust and directly supports national telecom security goals.

Following its success in Nigeria, the service has now expanded to Tanzania and Kenya, with a rollout planned for all 14 countries where Airtel operates.

Feedback from early users has been overwhelmingly positive. Many have reported improved personal awareness to SMS messages.

According to Balsingh, the AI Spam Alert Service is not a one-off solution, it is embedded in Airtel’s focus on integrating intelligent systems across its offerings while improving user experience. With threats becoming more sophisticated, “so will our solutions,” he said.

The company’s Spam Alert Service is a necessary evolution in how we think about mobile security, proactive, intelligent, and inclusive. Mobile phones are lifelines to finance, communication, and commerce, and this service does more than pinpoint spam, it restores user confidence.

And across the current digital space, confidence is indeed everything.

This unprecedented service, which offers Airtel smartphone and feature phone customers real-time alerts for suspected spam SMS messages, requires no additional application downloads and is automatically activated for all Airtel customers. Starting from Nigeria, it will subsequently roll out across other countries where Airtel Africa operates.

According to research from Quartz, as of 2019, nine of the top 20 countries in the world with the highest spam rates are in Africa.

With Africa’s smartphone penetration on the increase, spam messages have become a widespread issue, targeting an expanding demographic of unsuspecting individuals.

Hundreds of thousands of mobile users often receive unsolicited SMS or calls claiming to be from their network provider or government and offering irresistible benefits.

In these communications, users are asked to click on links and provide personal information to claim the benefits. This action allows the scammer to gain access to users’ security information, which can then be used to commit fraud.

In response, Airtel Africa has developed an innovative AI-powered solution that classifies suspicious SMS messages as “Suspected SPAM.”

Without reading specific SMS messages, the AI analyses in real time over 250 parameters, including the sender’s usage patterns such as SMS frequency and geographical spread of targets.

The Airtel AI Spam Alert Service is designed to filter all SMS through a proprietary dual-layer protection: one layer at the network level and the other at the IT systems level, processing over 1.5 billion messages in 2 milliseconds.

Additionally, the software alerts customers to malicious weblinks received via SMS. For this purpose, a centralized database of blacklisted URLs is maintained, and by scanning every SMS in real time the AI system can warn users against accidentally clicking on suspicious links.

Speaking at the launch of the Airtel AI Spam Alert Service in Lagos, Dinesh Balsingh, Airtel Nigeria’s managing director and chief executive officer, said:

“Enhancing customer experience is our foremost priority, and we are proud to launch Africa’s first AI-powered spam alert solution.  This is a gamechanger for the telecoms industry in Africa and as we move forward, we will continue to address customer challenges through proactive tech-driven solutions. We are proud to launch this innovative initiative in Nigeria, our largest market in Africa, while the other countries will launch in the coming months.”

Dr. Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, who was also present at the launch, commended Airtel for its continued investment in Nigeria’s technology ecosystem and for specifically investing in a service that is geared towards enhancing online security for millions of Nigerians.

“As we expand our digital infrastructure and prioritise digital literacy, solutions like Airtel AI Spam Alert Service will enforce the importance of leveraging artificial intelligence, not only for security but also for economy empowerment,” he said.

In his remarks, Dr Aminu Maida, the executive vice chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), stated:

“The Airtel Spam Alert Service is of obvious benefit to the entire sector. Security is one of the major challenges to subscribers and such an innovative service from Airtel helps us tackle this issue while boosting consumer confidence.”

Speaking at the event, Mr. Dinesh Balsingh, chief executive officer, Airtel Nigeria, described it as a special service and a gift from Airtel to its customers.

According to him, keeping Airtel customers secure in the era of spam menace is a no-brainer.

While Nigeria, 7th in the global spam SMS ranking, has 87% of the citizens receive unwanted SMS, Airtel’s experience is that 60% of its customers receive spam messages monthly.

Balsingh said despite existing spam filters, crowdsourcing based apps and calling name presentation (CNAP) solutions in the market, these are not enough to contain the menace hence Airtel innovatively developed SPAM ALERT solution.

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