Data Now Airtel’s Largest Revenue Driver As Customers Hit 173.8 Million

Airtel Africa’s data revenue surged 37 per cent to $1.16bn in the first half of its 2026 financial year, overtaking voice to become the company’s largest source of income.

The performance reflects sustained growth in digital adoption, increased smartphone penetration, and continued network expansion across its African markets.

The telecoms giant said total revenue rose 24.5 per cent in constant currency to $2.98bn, while reported currency revenue grew 25.8 per cent, boosted by currency appreciation in key markets including Nigeria and Francophone Africa.

Data revenue growth outpaced voice, which rose 13.2 per cent during the period, underscoring the company’s focus on data-led services.

The number of data customers expanded by 18.4 per cent to 78.1 million, while smartphone penetration increased 3.8 percent to 46.8 per cent. Data ARPU climbed 16.8 per cent in constant currency, driven by a 45 per cent surge in data traffic across Airtel’s networks.

Airtel Money also maintained strong momentum, advancing digital financial inclusion across its markets. The fintech arm grew its customer base by 20 per cent to 49.8 million, while annualised total processed value (TPV) in Q2’26 surpassed $193bn, a 35.9 per cent increase year-on-year.

This expansion helped lift mobile money revenue by 30.2 per cent in constant currency and ARPU by 11 per cent.

The company said its investments in infrastructure have continued to support customer growth and service quality. Airtel rolled out 2,350 new sites during the period, bringing total sites to 38,300, and extended its fibre network by 4,000 kilometres to more than 81,000 kilometres.

Overall population coverage reached 81.5 percent, with 98.5 percent of sites now 4G-enabled.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 33.2 per cent to $1.45bn, while margins expanded to 48.5 per cent from 45.8 per cent in the prior year, reflecting operational efficiency and cost control.

Profit after tax increased sharply to $376m from $79m a year earlier, buoyed by higher operating income and a $90m gain from naira and CFA franc appreciation.

Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Taldar said the group’s strategy has been focussed on providing a superior customer experience and the strength of these results is testament to the initiatives that it has been implementing across the business.

“Digital innovation is a core focus, and we’re pleased to see the growing adoption of MyAirtel app as we seek to deepen customer engagement and simplify the customer journey.

Furthermore, our network continues to scale as we build additional capacity to facilitate the rise in both digital and financial inclusion.

“The increase in smartphone penetration to 46.8 per cent reflects the substantial demand for data services across our markets but also highlights the scale of the opportunity to further develop the digital economy.

“Airtel Money continues to gain momentum, with our customer base nearing 50 million and annualised total processed value approaching $200bn, up over 35 per cent year-on-year. The acceleration in customer growth and continued growth in engagement on the platform reflects our success in driving digital adoption and innovation to enhance the ecosystem. The preparation for the IPO remains on course for a listing in the first half of 2026.

“The strength of our revenue performance – up 24.5 per cent in constant currency – and further cost efficiency initiatives has continued to support a further increase in EBITDA margins to 49 per cent in Q2’26, and we‘ll continue to focus on further incremental margin improvements, subject to macroeconomic stability.

This strong performance gives us the confidence to increase our capex guidance for this financial year to between $875m and $900m, as we accelerate our investments to capture the full potential across our markets and deliver long-term value for all stakeholders,” he said.