Airtel Nigeria’s $1 billion comeback comes with a growing mobile money business

Airtel Nigeria generated $1.01 billion in revenue between April and September 2026, crossing the $1 billion mark for the first time since the same period in 2022, when it recorded $1.04 billion, according to the company’s financial statements.

Its mobile money subsidiary, SmartCash PSB, also recorded its highest-ever half-year revenue of $10 million, as efforts to grow its banking business through a zero-fee model and a 15% annual interest rate on savings deposits begin to gain traction.

The results show Airtel Nigeria, with 61.7 million subscribers, recovering from the currency volatility that weighed on its earnings after the naira was devalued in 2023. Since 2025, improved macroeconomic conditions, including a more stable naira and regulatory approval for market-reflective telecom tariffs, have supported revenue growth across the sector. MTN Nigeria, for instance, reported a 23.6% jump 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 said about its Nigerian unit.

Airtel Nigeria’s revenue growth of 44.62% helped push its average revenue per user up by 27.27%.

Beyond currency growth, data consumption also supported the growth. Airtel Nigeria’s smartphone penetration reached 56.8%, while monthly smartphone data usage per customer increased to 16.7GB from 12.7GB in the corresponding period.

The improved performance in Nigeria contributed to Airtel Africa’s overall revenue, which rose by 28.20% to $3.82 billion. The group’s profit for the period also increased 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 said.

However, rising operating costs are beginning to weigh on margins. Airtel Africa said recent geopolitical developments, which have resulted in a doubling of fuel prices in Nigeria, are putting pressure 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 company said.

Airtel Nigeria’s SmartCash revenue grows 150%

SmartCash PSB, Airtel Nigeria’s mobile money subsidiary, saw its customer base increase by 110% to 4.2 million, while revenue grew by 150% to $10 million during the six-month period.

Despite the growth, SmartCash remains the smallest of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations, contributing just 1.19% of the group’s revenue. Its latest performance, however, suggests that Airtel Nigeria’s efforts to build a more competitive mobile money business are beginning to produce results.

In March 2026, SmartCash said it had crossed nearly three million active users as it doubled down on a zero-fee banking model and a 15% annual interest rate on savings deposits.

SmartCash generated just $6 million in revenue as of December 2025, according to Airtel Africa’s nine-month financial statements. Its latest $10 million revenue represents a 66.67% increase over that figure.

The growth comes as Nigerian telecom operators seek to strengthen their mobile money businesses and capture a larger share of the country’s digital financial services market.

In August 2026, MoMo PSB, MTN Nigeria’s mobile money subsidiary, migrated to a new platform powered by Alipay+, upgrading its fintech infrastructure. Revenue from its core mobile money business subsequently increased by 102.2%, while wallet balances more than quadrupled to ₦43.8 billion ($32.54 million).

But SmartCash still has considerable ground to cover to catch up with established players. OPay, Nigeria’s mobile money market leader, generated $467.06 million in revenue in the first half of 2026.