Airtel Africa half-year profit rises 20% to $452m

Airtel Africa’s profit after tax rose by 20.5% to US$452 million in the half year to 30 September 2026, up from US$376 million in the same period last year. The growth was driven by data and mobile money across its 14 African markets.

Revenue increased by 28.2% to US$3.82 billion in reported currency, or 20.8% in constant currency. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 32.8% to US$1.92 billion, or 23.5% in constant currency.

The group recorded a record underlying EBITDA margin of 50.4% in the second quarter, despite rising fuel costs putting pressure on its cost base.

All three regions grew. Nigeria led with 27% revenue growth in constant currency, followed by Francophone Africa at 19.2% and East Africa at 18.2%.

Data remained the main growth engine, with revenue rising 28% in constant currency to US$1.57 billion, about half of total mobile services revenue. The data customer base grew by 15% to 89.9 million. Smartphone penetration rose to 51.6%, and average smartphone data usage climbed to 13.3GB a month from 10.1GB a year earlier.

Mobile money revenue grew by 25.8% in constant currency to US$840 million, and the customer base rose 22.4% to 60.9 million. Annualised total processed value reached US$275 billion in the second quarter, up 36.5%.

Airtel Africa’s total customer base grew by 11.6% to 193.9 million.

“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,” said Sunil Taldar, CEO of Airtel Africa.

Airtel Money IPO and AI

The results are the group’s first since the initial public offering (IPO) of its mobile money unit. Taldar said Airtel Africa had kept its shareholding through the listing.

“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,” he said.

He added that the company is increasingly using AI to understand customers better, speed up innovation, simplify customer journeys and strengthen the detection of fraud and emerging threats.

Smartphones on Airtel’s network now exceed 100 million, which Taldar said leaves substantial room for further adoption.

Operating profit rose by 34.2% to US$1.29 billion, and net cash generated from operating activities grew by 26.7% to US$1.76 billion. Operating free cash flow increased by 12% to US$1.26 billion, as the group stepped up network investment to expand capacity and improve service quality.

“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 through a combination of operational discipline, ongoing cost efficiency programmes and continued scale benefits,” Taldar said.

He cautioned that margins will continue to be shaped by the macroeconomic environment, including fuel costs.

“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,” he said.

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