Customer surge powers Airtel Africa’s profit as market share widens

Airtel Africa has credited strong customer growth in Kenya and the wider East African region for helping deliver robust financial results for the financial year ended June 30, 2026.

The telecommunications firm's financial results released late last week show net profit climbed by 27 per cent to $198 million (Sh25.5 billion) from $156 million (Sh20.1 billion) a year earlier

Revenue rose by 31 per cent to $1.853 billion (Sh239 billion), supported by double-digit growth across its mobile and financial services businesses.

East Africa remained one of the company's strongest growth regions, with revenue increasing by 14.4 per cent in constant currency.

The performance was driven by a 9.3 per cent increase in the customer base and a 5.3 per cent rise in average revenue per user (ARPU), highlighting the region's growing importance in Airtel Africa's overall business.

Kenya has been central to that momentum. 

Airtel Kenya has steadily expanded its subscriber base over the past two years, steadily eating into Safaricom's dominance.

According to the latest Communications Authority of Kenya sector statistics, Safaricom's market share eased to about 64 per cent, while Airtel Kenya increased its share to approximately 35 per cent, reflecting continued gains in mobile subscriptions as competition in the market intensifies.

In reported currency, East Africa generated revenue of $607 million (Sh78.3 billion), representing growth of 21.9 per cent.

Voice revenue expanded by eight per cent in constant currency, largely supported by the 9.3 per cent increase in the customer base.

Group chief executive officer Sunil Taldar said the company had begun the new financial year on a strong footing, attributing the performance to sustained investment in customer experience, network expansion and digital transformation.

"Our continued focus on the customer experience translated into accelerating customer base growth across all business segments," he said.

Taldar said the company continues to digitise its operations by simplifying customer journeys, increasing digital adoption and using data analytics and artificial intelligence to improve service delivery.

He noted that smartphone penetration across Airtel Africa's markets rose to 51 per cent, up by 5.2 percentage points over the past year, helping drive a 56.3 per cent increase in data traffic as more customers embraced digital services.

The group's total customer base expanded by 11.6 per cent to 189 million, while data customers grew by 15.5 per cent to 87.3 million.

Average monthly data consumption per customer increased from 7.8 gigabytes to 10.6 gigabytes, underpinning a 10.3 per cent increase in data ARPU in constant currency.

Mobile money also remained a key growth engine. Airtel Money's customer base grew by 23.3 per cent to 56.5 million, while annualised total processed transaction value surged by 51.5 per cent to more than $245 billion (Sh31.6 trillion).

Taldar said the fintech business continues to deepen financial inclusion by expanding digital payment services and new financial products.

He confirmed that Airtel Money remains on course for a London listing later this year, which the company expects will broaden access to international investors and unlock additional value for one of Africa's largest digital financial platforms.

To support future demand, Airtel Africa significantly accelerated investment in network infrastructure.

Capital expenditure increased to $389 million (Sh50.2 billion) from $121 million (Sh15.6 billion) a year earlier, enabling the rollout of more than 920 new network sites during the quarter and expansion of its fibre network to 82,100 kilometres.

The company said continued investment in network quality, combined with ongoing cost-efficiency programmes, positions it to sustain growth despite rising energy costs linked to geopolitical tensions.