Nigeria now Airtel Africa’s second-largest market by revenue per subscriber

Nigeria is now Airtel Africa’s second-biggest market by revenue earned from each subscriber, as higher telecom tariffs boosted earnings in the company’s largest African market. 

Airtel Africa, which operates in 14 countries, grew its average revenue per user (ARPU) in Nigeria by 41.18% for the financial year ended March 2026, according to the company’s financial results released on Friday. 

ARPU measures how much telecom operators earn per subscriber and is a key indicator of whether revenue is sufficient to cover operating costs and fund network investments. 

Money

The ARPU Gap: Value vs. Velocity

Francophone Africa still extracts the most revenue per user, but Nigeria’s recent 50% tariff hike has triggered explosive year-over-year growth.

Source: Airtel Africa plc FY’26 Financial Results. Bar length represents actual Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Badges represent YoY growth.

The rise in revenue earned from each subscriber marks a reversal for Airtel Africa in Nigeria, where years of naira depreciation weakened dollar revenues despite subscriber growth. As the currency fell from ₦471/$ in June 2023 to over ₦1,300/$, telecom operators struggled to fund network expansion and infrastructure upgrades. 

But the 50% tariff increase approved in 2025 has lifted earnings, restored profitability, and given operators room to increase investment in their networks again. MTN Nigeria’s ARPU rose 65.89% in 2025 to $3.60, reflecting a broader industry trend with stronger earnings per subscriber.

Airtel Nigeria increased capital expenditure by 48.21% in the year ended March 2026. Revenue rose 52.92% to $1.59 billion, while operating profit climbed 78.62%. The company’s Nigerian subscriber base stood at 58.3 million.

Money & Power

The Revenue Engine: Mobile Services

East Africa remains the financial heavyweight in mobile services, but Nigeria’s massive revenue leap is rapidly changing the balance of power.

FY 2025

FY 2026

Source: Airtel Africa plc FY’26 Financial Results. Values represent mobile services reported currency revenue in billions of US Dollars.

Data revenue continued to drive growth, accounting for 51.31% of total revenue in Nigeria.

Airtel’s mobile money business in Nigeria, however, remains significantly smaller than its operations in other regions. Nigeria had 2.7 million mobile money users, compared to 40.9 million in East Africa and 10.5 million in Francophone Africa.

Nigeria contributed less than 1% of the $1.36 billion generated by Airtel Africa’s mobile money business in the financial year ended March 2026.

Money

The Mobile Money Void: Nigeria’s Missing Millions

While Nigeria dominates telecom earnings, it remains a fraction of the mobile money empire built by Airtel in East and Francophone Africa.

Total Revenue Active Users

Source: Airtel Africa plc FY’26 Financial Results[cite: 360, 371, 373, 375]. Values represent reported currency revenue and active mobile money customer base.

The company is betting on customer incentives, physical agent distribution, and fixed savings interest rates of 15% to expand its mobile money operations in Nigeria.

Overall, Airtel Africa’s subscriber base grew to 183.5 million, while revenue increased 29.47% to $6.42 billion. Profit after tax surged 147.87% during the period.

“We achieved a strong 24.0% growth in constant currency revenues in FY’26, with reported currency revenues increasing by 29.5% to $6,415m, reflecting attractive industry fundamentals and focused operational execution, further supported by tariff adjustments in Nigeria and macroeconomic tailwinds,” the company said in its results.