Airtel Africa has released its financial results for the year ending March 31, 2025, showing that while the company experienced strong operational growth, its profitability took a major hit due to significant currency-related losses, especially in Nigeria.
Profits Plunge as Nigeria’s Currency Devalues
The biggest story in the results is not Airtel’s growing customer base or data usage – it is the financial pressure from the Nigerian currency crisis. In FY25, Airtel Africa reported a 52.2% decline in net profit, dropping from $523 million in the previous year to $317 million. The primary reason for this fall was the sharp devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, which led to heavy foreign exchange losses.
According to the company, $750 million was lost to foreign exchange impacts across the year. Out of this, $330 million in net FX losses were booked in the first quarter of the financial year alone. These losses are mostly non-cash, but they had a serious impact on the Group’s reported earnings.
Nigeria is Airtel Africa’s largest market, and because the company reports in U.S. dollars, any significant depreciation of the Naira results in reduced value when local earnings are converted into dollars. This also affects how the company manages its U.S. dollar-denominated debt.
The currency issue didn’t just affect profits. It also masked real growth. Airtel says that although its revenues increased significantly in constant currency terms, the reported (actual dollar) numbers appeared lower than they would have been if exchange rates had remained stable.
Despite Setbacks, Airtel Africa Shows Strong Operational Growth
Even in the face of these challenges, Airtel Africa’s operations were resilient. In constant currency term – meaning after removing the effects of currency fluctuations – total revenue grew by 20.9%, reaching $5.2 billion.
The company’s EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization) increased by 21.2%, reaching $2.6 billion. The EBITDA margin, which indicates operational efficiency, remained strong at 49.3%.
In terms of free cash flow, Airtel generated $1.1 billion – giving it room to continue investing in network expansion. The company declared a final dividend of 3.57 cents per share, the same as the previous year.
Customer Base Grows Past 150 Million
Airtel Africa now serves 150.4 million customers, up by 9% compared to last year. This growth was recorded across all regions:
- Nigeria led with a 13% increase.
- East Africa followed with 7.2% growth.
- Francophone Africa grew by 4.5%.
This milestone reflects Airtel’s continued efforts to expand its reach across urban and rural markets on the continent.
Data and Mobile Money Lead Revenue Growth
Airtel’s data business continued to grow strongly. The number of data users rose by 17.8% to 64.4 million, and total data usage across the network jumped by 37.7%. Revenue from data services increased by 29.2% in constant currency. The company also added 3.6 million smartphones to its network, supporting greater data consumption.
To support this growth, Airtel rolled out more than 7,400 new 4G sites, expanding 4G population coverage to 70.5%across its markets.
Meanwhile, the mobile money business also saw major gains. Revenue from Airtel Money increased by 32.8%, with the total number of mobile money customers rising by 20.7% to 37.8 million.
The platform handled $116 billion in transaction value over the financial year. The number of merchants accepting Airtel Money increased to 1.9 million, indicating the growing importance of digital payments in daily life across Africa.
Strategic Investments and Satellite Partnerships
During the year, Airtel Africa spent $702 million in capital expenditure to expand its network infrastructure. These investments went into building more 4G and 5G sites, enhancing data center capabilities, and rolling out more fiber connections.
In a key strategic move, Airtel Africa announced a partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink in May 2025. This deal will help the company offer high-speed internet in remote areas using satellite technology. The partnership also aims to boost rural connectivity, enterprise services, and backhaul for mobile networks – particularly in places where traditional infrastructure is difficult to deploy.
For more details on this partnership, see our previous coverage: Airtel and Starlink Deal
The Road Ahead
While Airtel Africa’s operational growth is strong and promising, the key challenge moving forward will be how the company navigates currency risk, especially in Nigeria. Unless there is more currency stability, reported profits will continue to face pressure, regardless of the actual performance on the ground.
The company is expected to focus more on:
- Growing its mobile money ecosystem further,
- Strengthening its data services and network quality, and
- Expanding rural connectivity through partnerships like the one with Starlink.
Airtel Africa’s performance shows that demand for digital services is rising fast across the continent. But the financial health of the business will depend not just on subscriber numbers or data usage—but also on how well it adapts to macroeconomic conditions beyond its control.
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