NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 28 – Airtel Africa has rebounded to profitability for the half year ending September, achieving Sh10.2 billion ($79 million) in profit, a 726.3 percent increase compared to a Sh1.7 billion loss during the same period in 2023.
The turnaround is largely driven by strong growth in Nigeria (38.2 percent) and Francophone Africa (9 percent). Mobile services revenue grew by 18.4 percent, while mobile money revenue saw a 28.8 percent rise.
“Profit after tax of $79 million was impacted by $151 million in exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses due to further depreciation of the Nigerian naira,” Airtel said.
Airtel Africa, part of India’s Bharti Airtel, operates in 14 African countries, including Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, and Nigeria. In the fiscal year ending March 2024, East Africa contributed Sh285.2 billion to its Sh667 billion revenue.
The customer base grew by 6.1 percent to 156.6 million, with data customers increasing by 10.4 percent to 66 million. Data usage per customer rose 30.9 percent to 6.6GB, while smartphone penetration reached 42.9 percent.
Mobile money subscribers increased by 13.4 percent to 41.5 million, and transaction value grew 30.1 percent, with an annualized transaction volume of $128 billion.
Airtel Africa CEO Sunil Taldar noted, “To meet our customers’ expectations, we will enhance distribution, simplify customer journeys, and improve network experience to unlock Africa’s vast growth potential, especially in B2B and home broadband segments.”
