The telecommunications giant saw its profit after tax more than double to $586 million, a sharp climb from $248 million in the prior year, as a more stable operating environment and currency appreciation in key markets bolstered the bottom line.

Nigeria Leads Growth as Naira Stabilizes

In a striking turnaround for its Nigerian operations, reported currency revenue soared by 71% in the third quarter of 2026.

This growth was driven by a combination of tariff adjustments and a substantial appreciation of the Nigerian Naira, which moved from a weighted average of NGN/USD 1,627 in late 2024 to NGN/USD 1,456 in the current quarter.

“These results highlight the strength of our strategy, with strong operating and financial trends across the business,” stated Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer. “Coupling investment with innovative partnerships strengthens our customer proposition and positions us to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets”.

Nigeria’s data revenue alone surged by 65.4% in constant currency, reflecting a growing appetite for digital services as data usage per customer climbed to 10.7 GB per month. Smartphone penetration in the country also reached 54.1%, underscoring the success of Airtel’s device-centric strategy.

Airtel Money Hits 50 Million Milestone

The group’s financial services arm, Airtel Money, reached a historic milestone by surpassing 52 million subscribers, representing a 17.3% year-on-year increase.

Even more significant was the surge in transaction volume, with the annualized total processed value (TPV) crossing the $210 billion threshold, a 36% jump that reinforces Airtel’s role as a major driver of financial inclusion across the continent.

Management confirmed that the company remains on track for the highly anticipated listing of Airtel Money in the first half of 2026.

Strategic Investments and Satellite Partnerships

Airtel Africa continues to aggressively expand its infrastructure, reporting a 32.2% increase in capital expenditure to $603 million.

The group rolled out approximately 2,500 new sites and expanded its fiber network to over 81,500 kilometers to enhance coverage and capacity.

In a move to bridge the digital divide in rural areas, the company recently announced a landmark partnership with SpaceX.

Airtel Africa will become the first mobile operator on the continent to introduce Starlink Direct-to-Cell satellite connectivity, allowing customers with compatible handsets to access text and data services even in areas without traditional terrestrial coverage.

Operational Efficiency and Market Outlook

The group reported an EBITDA margin expansion to 48.9%, driven by disciplined cost-efficiency programs and strong revenue growth.

Operating profit grew by 41.3% to over $1.5 billion, while leverage improved to 1.9x from 2.4x a year ago.

Despite the positive momentum, industry authorities note that the group remains exposed to macroeconomic risks, including inflationary pressures and potential currency fluctuations.

However, with 95.2% of its operating company debt now held in local currencies, Airtel appears better positioned to weather future volatility than in previous cycles.

As the company enters the final quarter of its fiscal year, the focus remains clear: accelerating financial inclusion and leveraging new technologies like AI and satellite connectivity to unlock the immense demand across its 14-country footprint.

From the report available to Techeconomy, Airtel Africa increased its total customer base by 8.7% to 166.1 million, with is focus on digital inclusion supporting a 4.3% increase in smartphone penetration to 44.8%.

Data customers increased by 14.1% to 73.4 million, with data usage per customer increasing by 30.4% to 7.0 GB, supporting data ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit growth of 15.4% in constant currency.

The group’s continued investment in Airtel Money agent network, enhanced digital offerings and expanded use cases contributed to a 17.3% increase in mobile money subscribers to 44.6 million and a 11.4% growth in constant currency ARPU.

In Q4’25, transaction value increased by 34% in constant currency with annualised transaction value of $145bn.

The TechCo’s strategic focus on great customer experience was underpinned by sustained network investment with the rollout of 2,583 new sites and approximately 3,300 kms of fibre, supporting increased data capacity across the region.

Financial performance

• Revenues of $4,955m grew by 21.1% in constant currency but declined by 0.5% in reported currency as currency devaluation impacted reported revenues. Strong execution and the tariff adjustments in Nigeria contributed to a further quarter of accelerating growth, with Q4’25 revenue growth of 23.2% in constant currency, and 17.8% in reported currency as currency headwinds eased. 
• Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 19.6% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 10.6% and data revenue growth of 30.5%. Mobile money revenue grew by 29.9% in constant currency.
• For the year ended 31 March 2025, underlying EBITDA declined by 5.1% in reported currency to $2,304m with underlying EBITDA margins of 46.5% compared to 48.8% in the prior year, impacted by increased fuel prices and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the Group. However, following a more stable operating environment and benefits from its cost efficiency programme, underlying EBITDA margins have expanded from 45.3% in Q1’25 to 47.3% in Q4’25.
• Profit after tax of $328m improved from a $89m loss in the prior period. The prior period was significantly impacted by derivative and foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria.
• Basic EPS of 6.0 cents compares to negative (4.4 cents) in the prior period, predominantly reflecting lower derivative and foreign exchange losses in the current period. EPS before exceptional items declined from 10.1 cents in the prior period to 8.2 cents largely due to higher finance cost arising on account of tower contract renewals, which had a neutral to positive impact on cashflows, and a deferred impact of prior period currency devaluation.

Capital allocation

• Capex of $670m was below the firm’s guidance, primarily reflecting a deferral of data centre investment. Capex guidance for the next year is between $725m and $750m as Airtel Africa continues to invest for future growth.
• Airtel Africa has been consistently reducing its FX debt exposure, having paid down $702m of foreign currency debt over the year. Furthermore, 93% of its OpCo debt (excl. lease liabilities) is now in local currency, up from 83% a year ago.
• Leverage has increased from 1.4x to 2.3x, primarily reflecting the $1.3bn increase in lease liabilities arising from tower contract renewals. Lease-adjusted leverage increased from 0.7x in the prior period to 1.0x as of 31 March 2025, reflecting the impact of lower lease-adjusted underlying EBITDA given the translation impact arising from currency devaluation, and an increase in lease-adjusted net debt.

• The Board has recommended a final dividend of 3.9 cents per share, making the total dividend for the full year 6.5 cents per share, a 9.2% growth from the previous year, in line with the dividend policy. In addition, during the year Airtel Africa returned $120m to shareholders through share buyback programmes.

Commenting on the trading update, Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, said:

“We have reported another strong operating performance as our strategy continues to deliver against the significant opportunity that exists across our markets. The focus on our refreshed strategy has seen continued investment in the network while also driving improvements in our digital platforms and offerings to further enhance the customer experience.

“This has enabled increased digital inclusion with a further 20% growth in our smartphone customers to 74.4m, contributing to a 47.5% increase in data traffic over the year. Furthermore, Airtel Money continues to support financial inclusion with customers increasing 17.3% to 44.6 million and an expanding ecosystem underpinning the $136bn transaction value, which increased 32% in constant currency.

“An improving operating environment and focussed execution contributed to strong momentum in our financial results with constant currency revenue growth peaking at 23.2% in Q4’25. Part of this acceleration in the last quarter has also been driven by the Nigerian tariff adjustments.

“This accelerating revenue growth and cost optimisation programme has supported quarterly EBITDA margin expansion during the year.

“Underlying EBITDA margins increased by 200bps from 45.3% in Q1’25 to 47.3% in Q4’25, and we remain focussed on further EBITDA margin improvements subject to macroeconomic stability.

“This, combined with our robust capital structure and disciplined capital allocation, puts us in a strong position to continue investing in network capacity to deliver continued growth.

“We are making significant progress in our preparations for the Airtel Money IPO and remain committed to this objective. However, we are also mindful of evolving market conditions. Therefore, subject to these conditions, we anticipate a listing event in the first half of calendar year 2026.

“The recent stability in the operating environment is encouraging, however we remain conscious of global developments that may impact our business. We will remain focussed on delivering our strategy to transform the lives of our customers and support economic prosperity across our markets. I want to say a particular thank-you to our customers, partners, governments and regulators for their support and our employees for their unrelenting contribution to the business.”

The Key drivers of Airtel Africa’s revenue growth for the year ended 31 March 2023 were mobile data and mobile money transactions.

According to Airtel Africa’s results for the year ended 31 March 2023 released this week, the total customer base grew by 9.0% to 140.0 million, as the penetration of mobile data and mobile money services continued to rise, driving a 16.9% increase in data customers to 54.6 million and a 20.4% increase in mobile money customers to 31.5 million.

While the mobile money transaction value increased by 41.3%, with Q4’23 annualised transaction value exceeding $102bn in constant currency, the Capex increased by 14.0% to $748m.

Highlights of Airtel Africa plc Results for the year ended 31 March 2023

Operating key performance indicators (KPIs)

• Total customer base grew by 9.0% to 140.0 million, as the penetration of mobile data and mobile money services continued to rise, driving a 16.9% increase in data customers to 54.6 million and a 20.4% increase in mobile money customers to 31.5 million.
• Constant currency ARPU growth of 7.4% was largely driven by increased usage across voice, data and mobile money.
• Mobile money transaction value increased by 41.3%, with Q4’23 annualised transaction value exceeding $102bn in constant currency.

Financial performance

• Revenue in constant currency grew by 17.6%, with revenues growing by 11.5% to $5,255m in reported currency.
• While each segment’s reported currency revenue growth was impacted by currency devaluation, they all delivered double-digit constant currency revenue growth. Across the Group mobile service revenue grew by 16.2% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 11.8% and data revenue growth of 23.8%. Mobile money revenue grew by 29.6% in constant currency.
• Underlying EBITDA increased by 17.3% in constant currency, and 11.4% in reported currency to $2,575m, with an underlying EBITDA margin of 49.0%, reflecting the resilience of our operating model despite inflationary cost pressures.
• Profit after tax was $750m, a decrease of only $5m, after including a higher foreign exchange and derivative losses of $245m.
• Basic EPS at 17.7 cents was up by 5.2% due to higher operating profits and exceptional items gain on deferred tax credit recognition in Kenya, the DRC and Tanzania partially offset by higher foreign exchange and derivative losses. EPS before exceptional items was 13.6 cents, a reduction of 15.0%, largely due to higher foreign exchange and derivative losses of $245m. EPS before exceptional items and excluding foreign exchange and derivative losses was 20.6 cents, up by 13.4%.

Capital allocation

• Capex increased by 14.0% to $748m, in line with our guidance, as we continue to invest for future growth. Additionally, we acquired spectrum in Nigeria, the DRC, Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya during the year.
• In July 2022, the Group prepaid $450m of outstanding external debt at HoldCo. The remaining debt at HoldCo is now $550m, falling due in May 2024. Cash at the holding companies was $398m. Leverage was at 1.4x in March 2023, broadly stable despite $500m of spectrum investment during the year.
• The Board has recommended a final dividend of 3.27 cents per share, making the total dividend for FY’23 5.45 cents per share, an increase of 9% in line with our progressive dividend policy.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Olusegun Ogunsanya, the chief executive officer, Airtel Africa said:

“Over the last year, the operating environment has been challenging in many ways, yet our strategic focus on providing reliable, affordable and accessible services across our markets has enabled us to sustain our top-line growth momentum.

The resilience of our underlying EBITDA margins has shown the effectiveness of our operating model, despite significant inflationary and foreign exchange pressures. Strong customer and ARPU growth over the year demonstrates that demand for our services remains very strong and gives us the confidence to continue investing to support our future growth potential. Over the year, we invested $500m on additional spectrum, including 5G, across many of our OpCos which, combined with our capex, will underpin our growth ambitions.

“Despite this investment, and driven by a disciplined capital allocation policy, our balance sheet remains strong and has been further de-risked over the last year by the prepayment of $450m HoldCo debt in July last year. Currencies across our footprint have been under pressure, and the impact from the revaluation of our foreign currency denominated liabilities provided some headwinds in the last financial year.

“While currency devaluation is not in our control, we have plans to continue to mitigate its impact by growing our revenues at a faster pace than devaluation, with double-digit revenue growth in reported currency delivered this year and as we continue to reduce our foreign currency exposure across our balance sheet.

“Our six-pillar strategy continues to provide the basis for stakeholder value creation by facilitating continued expansion of our services to enhance both digital and financial inclusion across Africa. This strategy will continue and will be underpinned by our sustainability strategy as articulated in our Sustainability Report published in October 2022.

The Airtel Africa GCEO said he was pleased with “this year’s performance” and thanked all the customers, business partners, governments and regulators for their support and the employees for their consistent contribution to the business’ success.

“The macro-economic outlook remains volatile, but we are well positioned to deliver against the growth opportunities these markets offer, with a continued focus on margin resilience,” he said.

On his part, Carl Cruz, Airtel Nigeria CEO, said, “The results of the year ended March 2023, place Airtel Africa in an optimistic footing and Nigeria, being one of the most vibrant countries in the Group’s operations, is in a vantage position to capitalise on 5G technology, an energetic subscriber base, and the growing adoption of mobile money services, while we continue to promote the Group’s sustainability commitments.”