Airtel Africa has announced its key achievements for the period of April to June 2024. The company reported a revenue drop of 16.1 percent to $1.377 billion, primarily due to currency devaluation. Despite this, there was significant growth in specific regions, with revenue rising by 33.4 percent in Nigeria and 22.3 percent in East Africa.
Key performance indicators highlighted an 8.6 percent increase in the customer base, reaching 155.4 million. Data customers increased by 13.4 percent to 64.4 million, with data usage per customer rising by 25.1 percent to 6.2 GB. Smartphone penetration also saw an increase of 4.7 percent, reaching 41.7 percent.
The mobile money segment showed strong performance, with subscribers growing by 14.9 percent and transaction value increasing by 28.7 percent. The annualized transaction value for mobile money hit $120 billion.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) also improved, with data ARPU growing by 9.6 percent, mobile money ARPU by 8.8 percent, and overall ARPU by 9.3 percent. Airtel Africa emphasized that customer experience remains central to its strategy, supported by ongoing network investments that have boosted capacity and coverage. Data capacity across the network increased by 33 percent, facilitated by the rollout of nearly 3,000 sites and over 5,600 kilometers of fiber.
The company has launched a cost efficiency program aimed at identifying cost reduction initiatives across the Group. Measures include optimizing network utilization and design, implementing energy-saving initiatives, and renegotiating key contracts. However, increased fuel prices across markets and the reduced contribution of Nigeria to the Group following the naira devaluation led to a decline in EBITDA margins, down to 45.3 percent from 49.5 percent in Q1 2024 and 46.5 percent in Q4 2024.
Capital expenditure (Capex) stood at $147 million, 4.9 percent higher compared to the prior period. The Capex guidance for the full year remains between $725 million and $750 million.
Sunil Taldar, Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, stated: “The 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.”
