BUSINESSNews

Airtel Africa’s nine-month net profit hit $523 million

Story Highlights
  • Mobile money service for the wireless operator recorded a 29.8% growth.
  • Meanwhile, the company’s total customer base increased to $138.5 million (up 10.1 per cent)
  • Over the last nine months Airtel Africa spent almost $490 million on 4G and 5G spectrum across key markets.

Airtel Africa disclosed its earnings for the period of nine months ending 31st December 2022, revealing that it recorded $523 million as profit for the period. This signifies a 12.1% increase from $514 million during the same period a year before.

The financial report further says that mobile services revenue in Nigeria grew by 20.9 percent, in East Africa by 11.9 percent, and in Francophone Africa by 11.8 percent. Revenue from voice services increased by 12.7% while data recorded a revenue rise of 22.3%.

The company’s mobile money service recorded a 29.8% growth, largely attributed to a 32.5% growth in East Africa and 21.7% in the Francophone Africa market.

“The company’s total customer base increased by 10.1% to hit 138.5 million as the penetration of mobile data and mobile money services continued to rise, driving the data customer base up 13.6 percent and mobile money customer base up 22.2 percent,” the report says in part.

Segun Ogunsanya, Chief Executive Officer, of Airtel Africa, said, “Providing affordable, innovative, and essential services to customers in our 14 markets with unparalleled network quality and customer service is integral to our ambition of transforming lives across Africa. These strong results are a testament to this strategy despite the current macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties.“

In some of its markets such as East Africa, Airtel faces stiff competition from operators such as MTN in Uganda and Safaricom in Kenya.

Safaricom, for instance, has heavily invested in its network infrastructure, delivering better connectivity in some of the most remote regions in Kenya. Airtel continues to struggle to keep pace with customers lamenting poor or rapidly fluctuating networks in some places.

The company has, however, maintained a competitive edge with its friendly pricing on data and voice services.

“Over the last nine months we have spent almost $490 million on 4G and 5G spectrum across key markets to improve network capacity and quality, future-proof the company for continued growth opportunities, and facilitate economic progress in all our markets,” Ogunsanya said.

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Simon is a tech enthusiast who keeps a close eye on emerging technologies, startups and the general business environment. You will often catch him totally immersed and drooling over Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, IoT and just about any other tech that promises to revolutionize the way we live. Send tips to snderitu@techtrendske.co.ke

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