Airtel Africa today announced another strong quarterly performance for the third quarter of its 2026 financial year, underscoring the company’s accelerating growth momentum across its African markets. The results highlight sustained demand for data services, rapid expansion in mobile money, and strategic investments in network infrastructure.
The total customer base grew 10% year-on-year to 179.4 million, with data customers increasing 14.6% to 81.8 million. Smartphone penetration climbed 3.9% to 48.1%, driving average data usage per customer to 8.6GB per month from 6.9GB previously. This fueled a 16.6% rise in data ARPU in constant currency, supported by enhanced network investments.
Airtel Money achieved two significant milestones: surpassing 50 million subscribers to reach 52.0 million (up 17.3%) and exceeding $200 billion in annualised total processed value (TPV), climbing 36% to over $210 billion. Mobile money ARPU rose 9.8% in constant currency, bolstered by a broader ecosystem and increased digital adoption.
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Group revenues reached $4,667 million for the nine-month period ended December 2025, up 24.6% in constant currency and 28.3% in reported terms, with Q3 constant currency revenue growth accelerating to 24.7%. Mobile services revenue advanced 23.3% in constant currency, led by 36.5% growth in data revenues and 29.4% in mobile money revenues.
EBITDA surged 35.9% in reported currency to $2,283 million, with margins expanding to 48.9% from 46.2% a year earlier. Q3 saw sequential margin improvement to 49.6%, delivering 31.0% constant currency EBITDA growth. Profit after tax more than doubled to $586 million from $248 million, aided by higher operating profit and $99 million in derivative and foreign exchange gains (versus prior-year losses). Basic EPS rose to 13.1 cents from 4.4 cents.
Capital expenditure accelerated 32.2% to $603 million, including the rollout of approximately 2,500 new sites and 4,000 km of fibre network expansion, lifting total fibre to over 81,500 km and population coverage to 81.7%. Leverage improved markedly to 1.9x from 2.4x, reflecting stronger EBITDA generation.
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.”
He added that digitisation, AI integration, and closer GSM-Mobile Money synergy will optimise experiences and unlock demand. Airtel Money’s momentum supports plans for its listing in the first half of 2026. “Our strategic priorities remain clear: to keep investing in best-in-class connectivity, accelerate financial inclusion through our mobile money platform, and deliver a great customer experience,” Taldar concluded.
