Airtel’s Customer-Centric Data And Mobile Money Strategy Pays Off As H1 2025 Revenues Rise
Telecom services provider Airtel Africa has reported strong results for the first half of 2025, with revenue and profitability showing consistent growth, driven by sustained demand and its customer-centric strategy.
Total revenue reached USD 2,982 million, marking a robust 24.5% increase in constant currency and a 25.8% rise in reported currency. This performance was buoyed by tariff adjustments and strong growth momentum, particularly in Francophone Africa.
During this period, Airtel’s customer base expanded by 11% to 173.8 million subscribers. Data customers led this drive, growing by 18.4% to 78.1 million users. Data traffic across the network increased by 45%, pushing data revenue up by 37% and making it the largest component of group revenue at USD 1,161 million, surpassing voice revenue. Smartphone penetration also climbed to 47%.
Among other add-ons that were a factor in Airtel’s revenue growth were the adoption of the MyAirtel app and the launch of initiatives like the Airtel Spam alert. Airtel Money, a key cog in the business’ financial inclusion strategy, saw its customer base grow by 20% to 49.8 million. The Annualised Total Processed Value (TPV) for Q2’26 grew 36%, thanks to an expanding base and enhanced user engagement. This helped mobile money revenues grow by 30% in constant currency.
The strong revenue growth, coupled with continued cost efficiency, boosted EBITDA by 33% to USD 1,447 million. The EBITDA margin expanded to a high of 48.5%, up from 46% in the prior period.
The company’s Profit After Tax grew from USD 79 million to USD 376 million, significantly benefitting from foreign exchange gains in the current period compared to substantial losses a year prior.
CEO Sunil Taldar commented, “The strength of these results is testament to the initiatives we have been implementing… The increase in smartphone penetration… highlights the scale of the opportunity to further develop the digital economy.” Airtel is now accelerating investment to capitalise on this growth, increasing its capex guidance to between USD 875 million and USD 900 million, and a share buy-back on track to complete on or before March 31, 2026.
