Airtel Africa has reported consistently strong results for the half-year ended September 30, 2025, reflecting sustained demand and the continued execution of its strategy across its 14 markets. The East Africa region, which includes key markets like Uganda, has been a significant contributor to this success, showing strong growth in both mobile services and mobile money adoption.
East Africa: A Core Growth Engine
The East Africa region—which encompasses Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia demonstrated robust performance:
- Revenue Growth: East Africa’s constant currency revenue growth remained strong at 19.8%. In reported currency, revenue grew by 22.9% to $1,425 million for the half-year.
- This reported currency growth was higher than constant currency growth, primarily due to the appreciation of the Ugandan shilling and Zambian kwacha.
- Customer Expansion: The overall customer base in East Africa grew by 10.8%, reaching 82.3 million. This increase was largely driven by the expansion of network coverage and the distribution network’s increasing scale.
- Profitability: EBITDA for the region increased to $756 million, up by 24.2% in reported currency. The EBITDA margin expanded by 53 basis points to 53.1%.
- Network Investment (Uganda context): The Group continues to invest heavily in its network, with 1,467 sites now 5G enabled across four key markets. Furthermore, earlier in the year (March 2025), Airtel Africa and MTN announced network infrastructure sharing agreements in Uganda and Nigeria.
The Rise of Data and Digital Adoption
The demand for data and advanced services is rapidly growing, transforming East Africa’s digital landscape:
- Data Customer Growth: The data customer base in East Africa grew by 19.0%.
- Usage Surge: Data usage per customer per month increased by 25.0% to 7.3 GB.
- Smartphone Penetration: Smartphone penetration increased by 3.5% to reach 43.7% in the region. Smartphone users in East Africa consumed an average of 9.0 GB per month17.
Accelerating Financial Inclusion via Mobile Money
Airtel Money continues to serve as a key growth engine across the Group, with East Africa being a central driver:
- Revenue Growth: Mobile money revenue in East Africa grew by 33.7% in reported currency and 29.9% in constant currency.
- Customer Base: East Africa accounts for the largest share of the mobile money customer base, which expanded by 18.0% to 38.9 million users.
- Ecosystem Innovation (Uganda context): The expansion of the ecosystem is evident in the new service offerings. For instance, over 180,000 virtual credit cards have been issued in Tanzania and Uganda since launch, reflecting robust early demand and product-market fit.
The robust growth figures in East Africa underscore Airtel Africa’s success in leveraging strong data demand and deepening financial inclusion through its mobile money platform, positioning the region for continued digital transformation.
