Airtel Nigeria generated $1.01 billion in revenue between April and September 2026, crossing the $1 billion mark for the first time since the identical interval in 2022, when it recorded $1.04 billion, in accordance with the corporate’s monetary statements.
Its cell cash subsidiary, SmartCash PSB, additionally recorded its highest-ever half-year revenue of $10 million, as efforts to develop its banking enterprise by means of a zero-fee mannequin and a 15% annual rate of interest on financial savings deposits start to realize traction.
The outcomes present Airtel Nigeria, with 61.7 million subscribers, recovering from the foreign money volatility that weighed on its earnings after the naira was devalued in 2023. Since 2025, improved macroeconomic situations, together with a extra steady naira and regulatory approval for market-reflective telecom tariffs, have supported revenue development throughout the sector. MTN Nigeria, for occasion, reported a 23.6% leap in nine-month revenue to ₦4.61 trillion ($3.42 billion) in 2025.
“Higher reported currency growth compared to constant currency growth was due to the appreciation in the Nigerian naira from a weighted average NGN/USD rate of 1,553 in prior period to NGN/USD 1,360 in current period,” Airtel Africa mentioned about its Nigerian unit.
Airtel Nigeria’s revenue development of 44.62% helped push its common revenue per consumer up by 27.27%.
Beyond foreign money development, information consumption additionally supported the expansion. Airtel Nigeria’s smartphone penetration reached 56.8%, whereas month-to-month smartphone information utilization per buyer elevated to 16.7GB from 12.7GB within the corresponding interval.
The improved efficiency in Nigeria contributed to Airtel Africa’s total revenue, which rose by 28.20% to $3.82 billion. The group’s revenue for the interval additionally elevated by 20.21% to $452 million.
“Reported currency revenue growth was higher than constant currency growth reflecting currency appreciation in Nigeria and Zambia,” Airtel Africa mentioned.
However, rising working prices are starting to weigh on margins. Airtel Africa mentioned current geopolitical developments, which have resulted in a doubling of gas costs in Nigeria, are placing strain on its earnings.
“Our cost efficiency programme mitigated these pressures, limiting the sequential margin decline to approximately 130 bps, from 58.8% in Q1’27 to 57.5% in Q2’27. Operating free cash flow increased by 28.2% to $409m driven by strong underlying EBITDA growth, despite significantly higher capex during the period,” the corporate mentioned.
Airtel Nigeria’s SmartCash revenue grows 150%
SmartCash PSB, Airtel Nigeria’s cell cash subsidiary, noticed its buyer base improve by 110% to 4.2 million, whereas revenue grew by 150% to $10 million throughout the six-month interval.
Despite the expansion, SmartCash stays the smallest of Airtel Africa’s cell cash operations, contributing simply 1.19% of the group’s revenue. Its newest efficiency, nonetheless, means that Airtel Nigeria’s efforts to construct a extra aggressive cell cash enterprise are starting to provide outcomes.
In March 2026, SmartCash mentioned it had crossed practically three million active users because it doubled down on a zero-fee banking mannequin and a 15% annual rate of interest on financial savings deposits.
SmartCash generated simply $6 million in revenue as of December 2025, in accordance with Airtel Africa’s nine-month monetary statements. Its newest $10 million revenue represents a 66.67% improve over that determine.
The development comes as Nigerian telecom operators search to strengthen their cell cash companies and seize a bigger share of the nation’s digital monetary companies market.
In August 2026, MoMo PSB, MTN Nigeria’s cell cash subsidiary, migrated to a new platform powered by Alipay+, upgrading its fintech infrastructure. Revenue from its core cell cash enterprise subsequently elevated by 102.2%, whereas pockets balances greater than quadrupled to ₦43.8 billion ($32.54 million).
But SmartCash nonetheless has appreciable floor to cowl to meet up with established gamers. OPay, Nigeria’s cell cash market chief, generated $467.06 million in revenue within the first half of 2026.
