Airtel Africa has delivered one of the strongest full-year performances in its history, drawing a clear line under two difficult years of currency pressure and foreign exchange losses. The telecoms and mobile money giant reported profit after tax of $813 million for the financial year ended 31 March 2026, representing a 147.4% jump from $328 million recorded a year earlier, marking one of the company's strongest earnings recoveries in recent years.

The group posted revenue of $6.4 billion, up 29.5% in reported terms and 24% at constant currency. Growth was driven by strong demand in Nigeria and Francophone Africa and continued expansion in data services.

Data Overtakes Voice

The performance underscores how Airtel Africa is increasingly benefiting from Africa's accelerating digital adoption, with data services and mobile money now emerging as the company's strongest growth engines, overtaking traditional voice revenues.

The company's customer base grew 10.5% to 183.5 million, while data customers increased 14.8% to 84.2 million. Average data usage per user rose to 8.9 gigabytes per month, supporting a 35.2% rise in data revenues in constant currency.

In Nigeria, Airtel recorded particularly strong growth as revenue rose by 52.9% to $1.60 billion while underlying EBITDA jumped 77% to $922 million. Data revenue in Nigeria surged by 69.8% while EBITDA margin improved sharply to 57.5% from 49.7% previously.


Airtel Money Surges

Airtel Money, the group's mobile financial services business, continued its rapid expansion, with customers rising 21.3% to 54.1 million. Annualised transaction value processed on the platform exceeded $215 billion in the fourth quarter of 2026, reinforcing the growing role of mobile wallets and digital payments in Africa's largely underbanked economies.

The planned stock market listing of Airtel Money, which investors had expected, has been delayed due to geopolitical tensions. Airtel Africa said it still aims to complete the listing in the second half of 2026, subject to improved market conditions.

The Road Ahead

The stronger balance sheet is allowing Airtel Africa to accelerate investment. Capital expenditure rose 31.9% to $884 million in fiscal 2026, and the company plans to invest about $1.1 billion in fiscal 2027. During the year, the operator deployed more than 3,250 telecom sites and expanded its fibre network to 81,900 kilometres. Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said the results reflected strong execution and growing demand for digital connectivity and financial services, but cautioned that rising energy costs remain a near-term risk to margins.