Airtel Africa has reported strong audited financial results for the year ended March 31, 2026, driven by rising demand for data and mobile money services across its African markets.
The telecommunications group recorded significant growth in revenue, profitability, customer additions, and digital services adoption during the financial year.
According to the company’s results announcement released on Thursday, Airtel Africa’s total customer base grew by 10.5% to a record 183.5 million subscribers, representing the highest net customer additions in the company’s history.
Data customers increased by 14.8% to 84.2 million, supported by higher smartphone penetration, which rose to 49.5% from 44.8% a year earlier. Average monthly data usage per customer also climbed to 8.9GB from 7.0GB previously.
Airtel Money continued its strong growth trajectory, with customers rising 21.3% to 54.1 million. Annualised total processed value exceeded $215 billion in the fourth quarter of FY2026, reflecting deeper engagement across the mobile financial services ecosystem.
Revenue and profit surge
The company reported revenue of $6.42 billion for the financial year, representing growth of 29.5% in reported currency and 24.0% in constant currency terms. Nigeria remained one of the strongest-performing markets, recording 47.5% constant-currency revenue growth, while Francophone Africa delivered 17.1% growth.
Underlying EBITDA rose 37.2% in reported currency to $3.16 billion, while EBITDA margins expanded to 49.3%, reaching 50.3% in the fourth quarter.
Profit after tax more than doubled to $813 million from $328 million recorded in the previous financial year, supported by stronger operating performance and foreign exchange gains. Basic earnings per share increased to 18.6 cents from 6.0 cents.
Data revenue, now the company’s largest revenue segment, grew by 35.2% in constant currency, while mobile money revenue rose 28.4%.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said the company delivered a strong operational and financial performance despite macroeconomic challenges across several markets.
“This year delivered a very strong performance across both operating and financial metrics. We have reported another quarter of accelerating growth, with Q4’26 revenue growth peaking at 24.9% in constant currency as our strategy continues to deliver against the significant opportunity that exists across our markets,” Taldar said.
He added that investments in technology and artificial intelligence were helping to improve efficiency and deepen customer engagement.
“The adoption of new digital technologies and AI has been pivotal in unlocking growth opportunities, driving efficiencies across the business and enhancing the customer experience,” he stated.
Increased infrastructure investment
Capital expenditure increased by 31.9% to $884 million as Airtel Africa expanded network infrastructure across its operations.
The company added more than 3,250 new sites during the year and expanded its fibre network by about 3,200 kilometres to 81,900 kilometres. Airtel Africa said capital expenditure guidance for FY2027 is approximately $1.1 billion as it seeks to strengthen coverage, capacity, home broadband services, and data centre infrastructure.
Leverage improved to 1.8x from 2.3x, while lease-adjusted leverage stood at 0.5x. The Board also recommended a final dividend of 4.26 cents per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 7.1 cents, up 9.2% year-on-year.
Airtel Money IPO delayed
Taldar also confirmed that the planned Airtel Money initial public offering has been shifted to the second half of 2026, citing market conditions and geopolitical pressures affecting energy and logistics costs globally.
“We remain committed to the Airtel Money IPO and continue to make progress with the preparations. However, prevailing market conditions have led us to target the second half of 2026 for the potential listing,” he said.
Despite the delay, the company said it remains committed to listing the mobile money business when market conditions improve.
Airtel Africa stated that it continues to benefit from long-term structural growth drivers across sub-Saharan Africa, including rising smartphone adoption, increased data consumption, and expanding financial inclusion services.
