Airtel Africa has released its latest financial results for the quarter ending 30 June 2024, with numbers showcasing strong growth despite a time when the continent is generally experiencing economic challenges.
According to the telco, its total customer base rose 8.6% reaching 155.4 million. Airtel data customers across the continent increased to 64.4million translating to a 13.4% growth. Data usage per customer increased by 25.1% to 6.2 GBs, with smartphone penetration increasing by 4.7% to reach 41.7%.
The report further shows growth in Airtel’s mobile money platform with a 14.9% rise in subscriber count, with a transaction value of $210 billion in reported currency. Data ARPU (average revenue per user) grew by 9.6% with mobile money ARPU growing by 8.8% in constant currency, supporting an overall ARPU increase of 9.3% year-on-year.
As for network coverage, Airtel Africa reported a 33% increase through the distribution of almost 3,000 sites and over 5,600 kilometres of internet fibre across the continent. This is a result of the telco’s extensive investment in network coverage that has been witnessed even in Kenya with a rollout of 690 5G sites covering 39 counties so far.
Financially, the telco saw a constant currency growth of 19% driven by 33.4% growth in Nigeria and 22.3% growth in East Africa. However, the reported currency revenues declined by 16.1%, a result that Airtel links with the currency devaluation experienced particularly in Nigeria.
Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 17.4% and Mobile Money revenue grew by 28.4% in constant currency.
Speaking about this report, Sunil Taldar, Airtel Africa’s CEO said, “The continued revenue growth momentum once again reflects the resilient demand for our services, with sustained growth in our customer base and usage. Our superior execution enables us to capture these opportunities, whilst retaining our reputation as a cost leader across the industry.”
