Airtel Africa Plc has reported a robust performance for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2025, underpinned by strong customer growth, accelerating data and mobile money adoption, and sustained margin expansion driven by operating leverage and cost discipline.
The telecoms group continued to demonstrate resilience and growth potential across its African footprint, recording double-digit increases across key operating and financial metrics despite macroeconomic volatility in several markets.
Customer Growth and Usage Trends
Airtel Africa’s total customer base rose by 10 percent year-on-year to 179.4 million. Data customers increased by 14.6 percent to 81.8 million, supported by rising smartphone adoption, which climbed 3.9 percentage points to 48.1 percent.
Average data usage per customer expanded to 8.6GB per month from 6.9GB in the prior period. This growth translated into a 16.6 percent increase in data ARPU in constant currency, reflecting both higher consumption and improved network quality following sustained investment.
Mobile Money Scales Further
Airtel Money remained a key growth engine. The mobile money customer base increased by 17.3 percent to 52.0 million, crossing the 50-million-user milestone during the quarter.
Annualised total processed value exceeded $210 billion in Q3 2026, representing 36 percent growth year-on-year. Management attributed this performance to deeper merchant penetration, broader ecosystem partnerships, and rising digital adoption across Airtel’s markets. Mobile money ARPU grew by 9.8 percent in constant currency.
Revenue Growth Accelerates
Group revenues rose to $4.67 billion, reflecting 24.6 percent growth in constant currency and 28.3 percent growth in reported currency. Currency appreciation further amplified the strong underlying operating performance.
Mobile services revenue grew by 23.3 percent in constant currency. Data revenue, the largest contributor to group turnover, increased by 36.5 percent, while voice revenue grew by 13.5 percent. Mobile money revenues expanded by 29.4 percent in constant currency, reinforcing Airtel Africa’s diversified revenue base.
Margin Expansion and Profit Recovery
EBITDA increased by 35.9 percent in reported currency to $2.28 billion, with EBITDA margin expanding to 48.9 percent from 46.2 percent in the prior period. The third quarter recorded a further sequential margin improvement to 49.6 percent, reflecting operating leverage from strong revenue growth and ongoing cost efficiency initiatives.
Profit after tax rose sharply to $586 million, compared with $248 million in the prior period. The improvement was driven by higher operating profit and derivative and foreign exchange gains of $99 million, compared with losses of $153 million previously.
Basic earnings per share increased to 13.1 cents from 4.4 cents, while EPS before exceptional items also rose to 13.1 cents from 6.2 cents, largely reflecting improved operating performance.
Capital Investment and Balance Sheet
Capital expenditure increased by 32.2 percent to $603 million as Airtel Africa accelerated network expansion. During the period, the company rolled out approximately 2,500 new sites and expanded its fibre network by about 4,000 kilometres, taking total fibre length beyond 81,500 kilometres. Population coverage improved to 81.7 percent.
Leverage improved to 1.9x from 2.4x a year earlier, while lease-adjusted leverage declined to 0.7x from 1.1x, primarily due to EBITDA growth.
Management Outlook
Commenting on the results, Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, said: “These results highlight the strength of our strategy, with strong operating and financial trends across the business. During the quarter, we accelerated investment to enhance coverage and data capacity while also expanding our fibre network. Coupling this investment with innovative partnerships, strengthens our customer proposition and positions us to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets. Digitisation, technology innovation and embedding AI in our processes will also optimise the customer experience with increased digital offerings and closer integration of GSM and Airtel Money services allowing us to unlock the strong demand across our markets.”
He added that the company remains on track to list Airtel Money in the first half of 2026 and reaffirmed management’s focus on continued investment, financial inclusion, and incremental margin expansion.
Overall, Airtel Africa’s latest performance reinforces its positioning as one of Africa’s fastest-growing telecoms and digital finance platforms, with improving profitability, a strengthening balance sheet, and clear execution against its long-term strategic priorities.
