Airtel Africa Q1 revenue jumps 31% as data and mobile money accelerate

Airtel Africa's Q1 results at a glance

Airtel Africa has opened its 2027 financial year with strong growth across customers, data and mobile money.

Revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 rose 31.0% to $1,853 million. Some of that improvement came from favourable currency movements, but constant currency revenue growth was still a healthy 21.1%.

EBITDA, which measures earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, increased 36.6% to $928 million. The EBITDA margin reached 50.1%, up from 48.0% a year earlier.

The main complication is cash flow. Airtel Africa has sharply accelerated investment in its network, causing capital expenditure to more than triple and operating free cash flow to fall slightly despite the stronger underlying performance.

Key measure	Q1 2027	Q1 2026	Change
Revenue	$1,853 million	$1,415 million	31.0%
EBITDA	$928 million	$679 million	36.6%
EBITDA margin	50.1%	48.0%	206 basis points
Operating profit	$627 million	$446 million	40.7%
Profit after tax	$198 million	$156 million	27.0%
Basic EPS	4.4 cents	3.4 cents	27.3%
Operating free cash flow	$539 million	$558 million	-3.5%
Capital expenditure	$389 million	$121 million	221.5%

Customer growth is supporting the investment case

The group's total customer base increased 11.6% to 189 million. Data customers grew faster, rising 15.5% to 87.3 million, while mobile money customers climbed 23.3% to 56.5 million.

That is important because Airtel Africa is not relying solely on price increases or currency movements. It is adding customers while persuading more of them to use data and financial services.

Smartphone penetration increased by 5.2 percentage points to 51.0%. Average monthly data usage per customer rose from 7.8 GB to 10.6 GB, helping total network data traffic increase by 56.3%.

Data revenue grew 27.2% in constant currency, compared with 11.2% growth from voice services. Data now contributes 49.1% of mobile services revenue, up from 46.1% in the prior period.

This changing revenue mix matters. Voice remains a large and growing operation, but data is becoming a more important engine as smartphone adoption and usage increase.

Airtel Money continues to build scale

Mobile money was another standout area. Revenue increased 38.9% in reported currency and 25.8% in constant currency to $404 million.

Total processed value, meaning the value of transactions handled by the platform, reached $61.4 billion during the quarter. On an annualised basis, it exceeded $245 billion, representing reported currency growth of 51.5%.

Customer growth was accompanied by greater engagement. Total processed value per customer increased 13.0% to $371 per month, while mobile money average revenue per user rose 3.5% in constant currency to $2.4.

The mobile money EBITDA margin fell from 52.7% to 49.1%. Management attributed this mainly to previously disclosed changes to agreements between group businesses, which did not affect the consolidated group margin.

Airtel Africa also confirmed London as its preferred listing venue for the proposed Airtel Money initial public offering in 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. The valuation, timing and amount to be raised were not disclosed.

For investors, this proposed listing could provide a clearer standalone valuation for the fintech operation. However, the eventual structure and financial implications remain unknown.

Nigeria delivered the fastest regional growth

Nigeria was the strongest regional contributor, with revenue increasing 29.8% in constant currency and 50.4% in reported currency to $501 million.

The difference reflects appreciation of the Nigerian naira against the US dollar. The weighted average exchange rate improved from NGN1,585 per dollar to NGN1,367.

Nigeria also benefited from the full comparative effect of tariff adjustments implemented in the fourth quarter of the 2025 financial year. Data revenue increased 38.0% in constant currency, while voice revenue rose 23.0%.

Regional constant currency revenue growth remained broad:

Region	Constant currency revenue growth
Nigeria	29.8%
Francophone Africa	18.0%
East Africa	17.8%

East Africa and Francophone Africa also achieved double-digit growth, although mobile services operating free cash flow declined in both regions because of higher capital expenditure.

Margins improved, but cost pressure is emerging

The group EBITDA margin increased by 206 basis points to 50.1%, supported by revenue growth and Airtel Africa's cost optimisation programme.

Management did, however, flag higher energy costs following geopolitical developments. The group expects these costs to increase inflationary pressure and weigh on EBITDA margins in the near term, although it plans to offset some of the impact through further efficiencies.

This is an important warning. The first-quarter margin performance was strong, but management is not suggesting that current conditions are entirely benign.

Finance costs also increased from $173 million to $269 million. This included a $37 million exceptional charge relating to an in-principle settlement of a commercial dispute at one of the group's subsidiaries.

Airtel Africa also recorded $6 million of derivative and foreign exchange losses, compared with gains of $22 million in the prior period. Despite these pressures, profit after tax increased 27.0% to $198 million.

EPS before exceptional items rose 57.0% to 5.4 cents, compared with basic EPS of 4.4 cents.

Investment is absorbing more cash

Capital expenditure rose from $121 million to $389 million as Airtel Africa brought forward network investment. The company added more than 920 sites during the quarter and expanded its fibre network to 82,100 kilometres.

This spending is designed to improve network coverage, capacity and customer experience. It also helps prepare for further data growth and opportunities such as home broadband.

The trade-off is visible in operating free cash flow, calculated by subtracting capital expenditure from EBITDA. This declined 3.5% to $539 million even though EBITDA rose strongly.

Net cash generated from operating activities was more encouraging, increasing 38.3% to $786 million.

Leverage also improved. Net debt to EBITDA fell from 2.2 times to 1.7 times, while lease-adjusted leverage declined from 0.9 times to 0.5 times. Net debt itself increased from $5,494 million to $5,739 million, so the better ratio was primarily driven by higher EBITDA.

Share buyback adds another capital allocation angle

The board has approved a programme to repurchase up to 1% of Airtel Africa's issued share capital. By 30 June 2026, approximately 10.2 million shares had been bought for $46.6 million, with the shares due to be cancelled.

The initial arrangement with Barclays allows for purchases of up to $110 million and is expected to end no later than 27 November 2026.

This sits alongside the accelerated network programme, showing that the group is investing for growth while also returning some capital to shareholders.

What investors should watch next

The operational direction is encouraging. Airtel Africa is adding customers, increasing data usage, scaling mobile money and expanding margins, while leverage has moved lower.

There are still clear pressure points. Reported growth benefited from currency appreciation, capital expenditure is reducing free cash flow, energy inflation could squeeze margins, and the group remains exposed to foreign exchange and regulatory risks across its 14 markets.

The next areas to monitor are whether data and mobile money can maintain their current momentum, how successfully cost efficiencies offset energy inflation, and whether accelerated network investment produces continued customer and revenue growth. Progress towards the proposed London listing of Airtel Money will also remain a significant part of the story.