Airtel sees more room in mobile money as revenue hits Sh184b

Airtel Money Kenya MD Anne Kinuthia Otieno and CEO Ashish Malhotra during Airtel Smarta Data Bundles launch, on February 14, 2025. [File, Standard] Airtel Africa says it sees more room for growth in the mobile money space as the telco reported a revenue growth of 22.4 per cent to Sh184 billion ($1.4 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, 2025. The telco's revenue in East Africa grew by 17.6 per cent to Sh64.7 billion ($498 million). Voice revenue went up 15.1 per cent, supported by a 9.8 per cent growth in customer base and voice average revenue per user growth of four per cent. Data revenue grew by 21.4 per cent during the quarter. The telco attributed the strong operating and financial performance to the effective execution of its strategy and consistent demand across the African market. "The customer base growth was largely driven by expansion of both increased network coverage and the increasing scale of the distribution," noted the telco in a statement. Airtel Kenya recently reported having surpassed the 24 million subscriber mark, as also documented in the latest statistics by the Communication Authority (CA). Airtel Africa Chief Executive Sunil Taldar said the strength of the performance and the scale of the growth achieved reflect the sustained demand for the telcos and the business model to meet them. "Operationally, the acceleration in customer base growth to nine per cent, and 17.4 per cent growth in our data customers to 75.6 million, reflects the strong on-ground execution with a relentless focus on digitisation and the simplification of the customer experience," he says. He says the telco's strategy is to continue to prioritise the customer experience, as demonstrated by the launch of Airtel Spam Alert-an AI-powered solution aimed at enhancing trust and delivering a safer network environment. "This underscores our commitment to leveraging technology to lower barriers to smartphone adoption. With smartphone penetration at only 45.9 per cent, we see significant headroom to drive further adoption and play a key role in bridging the digital divide," he says. Mr Taldar adds that mobile money still remains a cornerstone for the telco's current and future growth proposition. "With our customer base approaching 46 million, we see significant potential to further advance financial inclusion through the continued growth of our financial services offering," he says. He noted that the continued expansion of Airtel's mobile money portfolio and the advancement of enterprise and digital payments contributed to a 35 per cent growth in annualised transaction value to Sh21.06 trillion ($162 billion). "We will continue to focus on technology and the range of product offerings to deliver a differentiated experience for our customers," he says. He said Airtel Money continues to play a pivotal role in fostering financial inclusion with a 16.1 per cent increase in customers to 45.8 million. Mr Taldar noted that this strong revenue performance and continued cost efficiencies contributed to further EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) margin expansion. This resulted in strong EBITDA growth of approximately 30 per cent. "We remain focused on further margin improvements, subject to macroeconomic stability. With a strong balance sheet and sustained network investment, I remain confident about our ability to capture the available growth potential across our markets," he said.

Airtel sees more room in mobile money as revenue hits Sh184b

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