Airtel Africa plc has released its results for the half-year ending 30 September 2024, highlighting robust growth in its customer base and mobile money services despite the impact of currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria. In the first half of H1’25, Airtel Africa’s total customer base grew by 6.1% to 156.6 million users. This growth reflects the company’s ongoing efforts to expand access to its services across the continent.

Growth in Data and Mobile Money Subscribers

Data usage and customer penetration continue to rise, with Airtel Africa reporting a 10.4% increase in data customers, bringing the total to 66.0 million. Data usage per customer rose by an impressive 30.9%, with each user consuming an average of 6.6 GBs monthly. The company also saw a 5.3% increase in smartphone penetration, with 42.9% of its customer base now using smartphones.

The strong growth extends to Airtel Africa’s mobile money services, where the subscriber base increased by 13.4% to 41.5 million. The value of transactions on its mobile money platform grew by 30.1%, reaching $128 billion annually. This reflects Airtel’s investments in distribution networks to support financial inclusion across its markets.

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ARPU and Revenue Growth

Data ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) rose by 13.5%, while mobile money ARPU grew by 10.9% in constant currency, contributing to an overall ARPU growth of 11.1% year-over-year. These figures highlight the increasing revenue-generating capabilities of Airtel Africa’s customer base, driven by the rising adoption of data and mobile money services.

In constant currency, Airtel Africa reported a 19.9% revenue growth for H1 2024, with growth accelerating to 20.8% in Q2’25, driven by outstanding performance in Nigeria, where revenue grew by 38.2%. In Francophone Africa, revenue grew by 9.0%. Mobile services revenue across the Group increased by 18.4%, while mobile money revenue grew by 28.8% in constant currency.

However, reported currency revenues declined by 9.7% to $2.37 billion, reflecting the impact of currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria.

Profitability and Cost Challenges

Despite strong operational growth, Airtel Africa faced profitability challenges, with its EBITDA margin declining to 45.8% in H1’25 from 49.6% in the same period the previous year. The decrease in margin was primarily attributed to the sharp rise in fuel prices across its markets and the reduced contribution from Nigeria following the naira devaluation.

Nonetheless, Airtel Africa’s EBITDA margin improved sequentially to 46.4% in Q2’25, up from 45.3% in Q1’25, supported by a cost efficiency program introduced earlier in 2024. In constant currency, EBITDA grew by 13.5%, while reported currency EBITDA declined by 16.5%, amounting to $1.09 billion for the first half of H1 2024.

Airtel Africa’s performance in the first half of 2024 highlights its continued ability to grow its customer base and expand mobile money services despite the challenging macroeconomic environment marked by currency devaluation in key markets. As the company implements cost-saving measures and invests in network infrastructure, it is poised to sustain growth in data and mobile money services while navigating the financial challenges posed by external factors.