ABUJA-(MaraviPost)-The continent’s leading smartphone service provider Airtel Africa’s customer base has grown to 163.1 million representing 7.9%.
According to the financial statement for nine-month period ended December 31, 2024 issued and signed by Airtel Africa Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar on January 30, 2025 data customer penetration continues to rise, with a 13.8% increase in data customers to 71.4 million.
The statement adds that the data usage per customer increased by 32.3% to 6.9 GBs, with smartphone penetration increasing by 5.2% to reach 44.2%.
“The continued investment to increase financial inclusion across our markets contributed to an 18.3% increase in grew by mobile money subscribers to 44.3 million. Transaction value in Q3’25 increased by 33.3% in constant currency with annualised transaction value of $146bn.
“Data ARPU growth of 15.0% and mobile money ARPU growth of 11.8% in constant currency continued to support overall ARPUs which rose 12.0% YoY in constant currency. Customer experience remains core to our strategy with sustained network investment during the period. In line with our strategic priorities, data capacity across our network has increased by 20.8% with the rollout of 2,850 sites and approximately 2,600 kms of fibre, reads the statement in part.
On the financial performance, the statement says, “Revenues of $3,638m grew by 20.4% in constant currency but declined by 5.8% in reported currency as currency devaluation continued to impact reported revenue trends. Strong execution supported a further quarter of accelerating growth with revenue growth of 21.3% in constant currency and reported currency revenue growth of 2.5%.
“Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 18.8% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 9.8% and data revenue growth of 29.5%. Mobile money revenue grew by 29.6% in constant currency”.
The statement adds, “The profit after tax benefitted from an exceptional gain of $94m (net of tax) following the naira and Tanzanian shilling appreciation. However, over the nine-month period ending 31 December 2024, profit after tax of $248m was impacted by $57m of exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses (net of tax).
Taldar excited, “We have delivered an improvement in both the operating and financial performance in the last quarter driven by our refined strategy which is focussed on delivering great customer experience across all touch points. An increasingly important component of this is to provide a best-in-class network, digitise and simplify the customer journey.
“Our focus on speed and quality execution is enabling us to unlock the substantial opportunities for growth across our markets and business segments, where demand remains significant, resulting in a further acceleration of constant currency revenue growth to 21.3% in the most recent quarter”.
He added, “We remain committed to investing for the future by expanding our distribution and network to ensure that we capture this significant growth opportunity on offer. Despite the challenging environment for many of our customers, we continue to see strong demand for our services as we enable connectivity and facilitate access to the digital economy.
“Furthermore, our capital structure remains robust with just 8% of OpCo debt in foreign currency – a substantial improvement over the last year. This, together with continued confidence in the outlook for the business, has enabled the Board to announce a second share buyback programme, which will return up to $100m to shareholders”.
Taldar adds further, “The recent signs of currency stabilisation in some markets and the recent decision from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) regarding tariff adjustments in Nigeria are encouraging and signal a more stable and supportive operating environment. While challenges remain, these developments provide a firm foundation for growth and improved market conditions.”