Highlights:
East Africa revenue increased 24.8% to USD 1.78B, with constant-currency growth of 18.2%, accelerating to 18.6% in Q2.
Airtel Kenya paid KES 8.4B (USD 65M) for a 25-year 5G licence, securing 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3500 MHz band to expand network capacity
Airtel Africa has broken ground on a 44MW data centre in Kenya, which management says will be East Africa’s largest, targeting hyperscalers, enterprises and government clients.
East Africa EBITDA increased 26.0% to USD 953M, with margins rising to 53.6%, above the group’s 50.3%.
Voice revenue increased 14.6% to USD 593M, data revenue grew 30.3% to USD 566M, and mobile money revenue rose 31.9% to USD 615M.
East Africa mobile services customers increased 8.0% to 88.8M, data customers grew 15.2% to 39.5M, while ARPU rose 14.6% to USD 3.40.
East Africa mobile services CapEx nearly doubled to USD 247M from USD 124M, while group CapEx increased to USD 657M from USD 318M.
Kenya’s 5G subscriber base grew 75% to 2.1M by June 2026, from 1.2M a year earlier, according to the Communications Authority.
Airtel Africa highlighted Kenya’s mobile money market, where transaction values relative to GDP are more than three times the broader Sub-Saharan African level.
Airtel Africa launched Starlink direct-to-device services in Uganda and DRC, while continuing discussions with Uganda’s regulator over its 90% coverage obligation.
Group free cash flow declined 23.9% to USD 280M from USD 368M as cash CapEx payments doubled to USD 713M, including Kenya’s 5G spectrum acquisition.
