Airtel Nigeria, the second-largest Nigerian telecom operator by customer base, generated ₦3,290 ($2.4) per customer in voice, data, and other service revenue during the second quarter of 2026. This was contained in a corporate filing by Airtel Africa on Thursday.
The total consumer base as of the second quarter of 2026 stood at 86.5 million, with data customers at 37.8 million. Average revenue per user, which shows how much the operation generates from each customer, increased to ₦3,290 ($2.4) from ₦2,880 ($2.1) a year ago.
Airtel Nigeria saw a total revenue of ₦689.87 billion ($501 million) during the quarter, expectedly fueled by data revenue. It also represents a 50.4% year-on-year (YoY) increase in reported currency from the ₦459 billion ($333 million) a year ago.
Airtel Nigeria’s revenue represents 27.03% of the group’s total revenue across its 14 African markets, further strengthening Nigeria as the group’s leading market in Africa.
A larger percentage of Airtel Nigeria’s revenue was driven by data, which generated ₦361 billion ($263 million). This is a 59.9% YoY increase in reported currency compared to the $164 million reported a year ago.
The contribution comes amid the continued rise in internet penetration and smartphone adoption that has recently fueled data demand. Also, Nigerians now spend lengthy time online, stemming from remote work, content creation, and social media usage.
In light of the development, Airtel Nigeria said smartphone penetration increased by 4.6% to reach 56.1%. Also, smartphone data usage per customer now stood at 14.9 gigabytes (GB) per month, compared to 11.8 GB per month a year ago.
Aside from the data growth, revenue from mobile calls (voice) increased by 42.6% in reported currency to ₦264 billion ($191 million). This further represents the wider gap between revenue generated from data and calls. Mobile money revenue (SmartCash PSB) contributed ₦6.8 billion ($5 million), also an increase from the ₦2.7 billion ($2 million) generated a year ago.
Other revenue comprising infrastructure sharing, airtime and data lending, value-added partnerships, and wholesale and carrier services contributed ₦58 billion ($44 million) during the quarter.
For Airtel Nigeria, the surge in total revenue was attributed to the naira’s positive performance in recent months. The Naira appreciated from a weighted average NGN/USD rate of 1,585 a year ago to NGN/USD 1,367 in the second quarter of 2026.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at $292 million, a 58.2% improvement in reported currency. The EBITDA margin increased 305 basis points to 58.8%, driven by strong revenue growth and continued benefits from its cost efficiency programme.
However, Airtel Nigeria noted that its EBITDA margins have been impacted by the rise in energy costs.
Also Read: Airtel Money processes $61.4bn in Q2 transactions ahead of planned IPO.
Airtel Nigeria’s slipped in mobile money despite growth
Airtel Nigeria’s mobile money operation, known as SmartCash PSB, recorded $5 million in revenue, increasing from the $2 million recorded a year ago.
Despite this nominal growth, real growth is still crawling. Airtel Nigeria’s mobile money contribution to total revenue falls below 1% for the period. This reveals how the service is still struggling to capture the robust Nigerian mobile money and fintech market.
Notably, Airtel Money is in a Nigerian market largely dominated by fintech giants such as Moniepoint, OPay, Kuda, Palmpay and others. Also, MTN’s MoMo PSB is part of that competition.
Compared to Nigeria, Airtel Money received revenue of $297 million in East Africa and $102 million in Francophone Africa.
Airtel Africa in Q2 vs Q1 2026
Group’s revenue during the quarter increased by 31% YoY to $1.85 billion, powered by data revenue and voice revenue of $750 million and $640 million, respectively. Total revenue from mobile money operations was $404 million, with revenue from other services at $129 million.
Significantly, profit after tax during the period surged by 27% YoY to $198 million after an EBITDA of $928 million.
The group’s customer base across its 14 African markets increased from 169.4 million to 189 million, while the data customer base closed in on 90 million. The operator recorded $3.3 in average revenue per user, an improvement from $2.8 a year ago.
While the largest contribution of $501 million from a single market was from Nigeria, the East African region recorded total revenue of $854 million. Also, the total customer base is now 86.5 million.
For Francophone Africa, total revenue across all services increased by 19.7% in reported currency to $492 million, while total users reached 42.4 million.
During the first quarter of the year, Airtel Africa reported $1.7 billion in revenue in Q1 2026, representing a 22.3% increase in constant currency. The earnings were fueled by $705 million in data revenue and $613 million in voice revenue. Profit after tax jumped 183.3% to $227 million, with the total customer base now 183.5 million.
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