Airtel Africa mobile transaction value rises by 45 pc

Airtel Africa has said its mobile money transaction value increased by 45.3 per cent in constant currency, with quarter two of this fiscal year’s annualised transaction value of 116 billion US dollars in reported currency.

The total customer base grew by 9.7 per cent to 147.7 million as the penetration of mobile data and mobile money services continued to rise, driving a 23.0 per cent increase in data customers to 59.8 million and a 23.1 per cent increase in mobile money customers to 36.5 million.

Commenting on the results for half the year ended September this year, Airtel Africa Group chief executive officer, Mr Olusegun Ogunsanya said, “Our focus remains to enhance long-term value by continuing to drive sustained and efficient growth.

Over the last five years, we have delivered constant currency revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation (EBITDA), the compound annual growth (CAGR) of 17.1 per cent and 20.7 per cent respectively, allowing us to further derisk the balance sheet and improve profitability across the group,”

Looking forward, he said the delivery of affordable and reliable telecom and mobile money services across our markets remains a key focus.

“Our strong operating performance continues to make us a stronger and bigger company, which is well positioned to deliver against the growth opportunities these markets offer,” he said.

The mobile company’s half-year report stated that the constant currency average revenue per user (ARPU) growth of 9.8 per cent was driven by increased usage across voice, data and mobile money.

Across the Group, the mobile services revenue grew by 18.3 per cent in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 11.5 per cent and data revenue growth of 28.1 per cent. Mobile money revenue grew by 30.9 per cent in constant currency.

“The resilient growth in voice, data and mobile money usage levels reflects the inherent demand for these essential services across our footprint, and our six-pillar ‘win-with’ strategy continues to ensure we capture this growth opportunity by expanding our customer base and providing the platform to enable increased usage across the network,” he said.

This strong momentum is supported by continued cost efficiencies which enabled further EBITDA margin expansion.