Airtel Africa Returns to Profit Amid Currency Uncertainty

There is light at the end of the tunnel for shareholders and investors of Airtel Africa Plc as the telecommunication giant has returned to the path of profitability after several quarters of losses caused by a currency devaluation.

The company posted profit after tax (PAT) of $79 million in the first six months of the year (H1)’25, from a loss of $13 million the previous year.

However, it said the $79 million was impacted by $151 million of exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses (net of tax), arising from the further depreciation in the Nigerian naira during the period.

President Bola Tinubu had announced the unification of the foreign exchange market to spur investment and the removal of subsidy on fuel, these policies  led to a sharp depreciation in the value of the local currency, Naira and higher energy cost that balloons the cost of operations.

As a result of the bold reforms of the new administration, the Naira has lost 69 percent so far as some foreign firms had exited the country while others have hiked the price of key products to stay afloat.

Revenue in constant currency grew by 19.9 percent in H1’25 with growth accelerating to 20.8 percent in Q2’25 driven by an acceleration of growth in Nigeria to 38.2 percent and in Francophone Africa to 9.0 percent. Across the Group mobile services revenue grew by 18.4 percent and Mobile Money revenue grew by 28.8 percent in constant currency. Reported currency revenues declined by 9.7 percent to $2,370m reflecting the impact of currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria.

“The sustained operating momentum over the period is testament to our teams’ ability to execute our strategy brilliantly. During the period we refined our strategy to significantly increase our focus on delivering best in class experience to our customers,” said Sunil Taldar, Chief executive officer of Airtel Africa.

“To meet our customer’s expectations, we will strengthen our ‘go-to-market’ through enhanced distribution, simplified customer journeys and best in class network experience. This will further unlock the significant opportunity Africa offers and will provide the foundation of strong growth across our markets and our business segments, especially as we build and scale up the B2B and home broadband segments,’ said Taldar.

Get More of our proprietary news and analysis as MoneyCentral is now on WhatsApp Channels  Follow the MoneyCentral Nigeria channel on WhatsApp: Click here!