Airtel Africa logs 16% profit jump as revenue surges 26% in Q2

Airtel Africa reported a 16 per cent increase in profit after tax to $254 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, compared with $219 million in the corresponding period last year. Revenue jumped 26 per cent to $1,970 million from $1,567 million a year earlier, though the growth moderated to 20.6 per cent on a constant currency basis, reflecting foreign exchange headwinds.

The company expanded its customer base by 11.6 per cent to 193.9 million subscribers during the quarter. Data customers grew faster, rising 15 per cent to 89.9 million, while mobile money services saw particularly robust expansion with customer numbers climbing 22.4 per cent to 60.9 million.

Increasing smartphone penetration to 51.6 per cent proved instrumental in driving demand for data services. Average data consumption per customer rose significantly to 13.3 gigabytes from 10.1 gigabytes in the prior quarter, underscoring improved customer engagement and stronger monetization of data offerings across Airtel Africa's footprint.

The results highlight the operator's success in capturing growth in Africa's expanding digital economy, where smartphone adoption continues to accelerate and data services remain a key revenue driver for telecommunications providers operating across the continent.