Airtel Africa has reported robust quarterly growth across its East African operations, powered by surging demand for mobile data, a growing customer base, and continued investments in network infrastructure.
Revenue from mobile services in the region rose to $498 million, up from $423 million in Q1 2024. The performance was driven by a 47.4% increase in data usage and a 17.4% rise in data subscribers, now totaling 75.6 million customers across key markets.
Strategic investments in 4G and 5G expansion, including the deployment of 1,244 new 5G-enabled sites in four countries, along with a 4.3% increase in smartphone penetration to 45.9%, helped boost both adoption and revenue.
As a result, data revenue jumped to $207 million, up from $170 million, while voice revenue increased to $245 million, from $210 million in the same period last year, supported by a 9.8% rise in total mobile customers.
A favorable foreign exchange environment, particularly the appreciation of the Ugandan shilling, also played a role in boosting the company’s reported revenue. This currency gain helped reported revenue growth outpace constant currency growth of 16.9%, positioning Uganda as a key growth driver for the East African region.
The company’s mobile money platform also delivered impressive results. Airtel Money revenue in East Africa—which includes Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, and Malawi—rose to $216 million in Q1 2025, from $167 million a year ago. The segment now contributes significantly to Airtel’s total mobile money revenue of $290 million, highlighting the increasing adoption of digital financial services in the region.
On a broader scale, Airtel Africa’s total customer base grew by 9.0% to 169.4 million, with data ARPU (average revenue per user) rising 18.5% in constant currency, reflecting strong consumer demand for mobile internet services.
In a statement accompanying the earnings release, Sunil Taldar, CEO of Airtel Africa, said the results reflected the effectiveness of the company’s execution strategy and its commitment to customer-focused innovation:
“The strength of this performance and the scale of the growth we achieved reflect the sustained demand for our services and the robustness of our business model in meeting these demands.”
He highlighted operational improvements.
“The acceleration in customer base growth to 9% and the 17.4% growth in our data customers to 75.6 million reflects strong on-ground execution with a relentless focus on digitisation and customer experience simplification.”
Taldar also pointed to the company’s expanding network infrastructure, with the addition of 2,300 new sites, bringing the total to 37,579, and a 2,700 km expansion of fibre bringing the network to over 79,600 km. These investments have pushed 4G population coverage to 74.7%, up 3.4 percentage points year-on-year.
Mobile money remains central to Airtel’s growth strategy. The segment posted constant currency growth of 30.3%, with East Africa contributing a 29.6% increase, underscoring the company’s increasing footprint in financial inclusion.
Airtel Africa ended the quarter with total revenue of $1.42 billion, a 22.4% year-on-year increase in reported currency terms. Significantly, data now accounts for nearly half of mobile services revenue, underlining its growing importance in the company’s long-term growth trajectory across the continent.
