Digitnomics 
Airtel Africa has ranked Nigeria as its second-largest market by revenue generated per subscriber, underscoring the growing financial strength of the country’s telecom sector following the 2025 tariff adjustment.
According to the company’s financial results for the year ended March 2026, Nigeria’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) rose by 41.18% year-on-year to $2.4, placing the country behind only Francophone Africa and ahead of East Africa within Airtel Africa’s operations.
ARPU, a key telecom industry metric, measures how much revenue operators earn from each subscriber and is often used to assess profitability, investment strength, and network sustainability.
The strong performance marks a major turnaround for Airtel Nigeria after years of foreign exchange pressure and naira depreciation weakened telecom earnings in dollar terms despite growing subscriber numbers.
Industry analysts say the 50% tariff increase approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2025 has significantly improved operator revenues, enabling telecom companies to restore profitability and expand network investments.
Airtel Nigeria’s revenue climbed 52.92% to $1.59 billion during the period under review, while operating profit surged 78.62%. Capital expenditure also rose by 48.21%, reflecting increased investment in network infrastructure and service quality.
The telecom operator currently serves 58.3 million subscribers in Nigeria.
The development mirrors broader industry recovery trends. Earlier, MTN Nigeria reported a sharp increase in subscriber revenue, highlighting how tariff reforms are reshaping the economics of Nigeria’s telecom market.
Data Services Drive Growth
Data revenue remained Airtel Nigeria’s strongest growth driver, contributing more than 51% of total revenue in FY 2026. Rising smartphone adoption, video streaming, mobile banking, social commerce, and digital entertainment continue to fuel data consumption across Nigeria.
Nigeria also recorded one of the fastest-growing mobile services revenues within Airtel Africa, rising from $1.05 billion in FY 2025 to $1.59 billion in FY 2026.
The figures reinforce Nigeria’s importance as one of Africa’s most strategic telecom markets by subscriber scale and digital consumption potential.
Mobile Money Still Weak in Nigeria
Despite strong telecom earnings, Airtel Africa’s mobile money business remains underdeveloped in Nigeria compared to East and Francophone Africa.
Nigeria generated only $9 million in mobile money revenue, contributing less than 1% of Airtel Africa’s total mobile money earnings of $1.36 billion. The company currently has 2.7 million mobile money users in Nigeria, compared to 40.9 million users in East Africa.
The gap highlights Nigeria’s slower adoption of telecom-led financial services amid intense competition from banks and fintech companies.
To strengthen its position, Airtel is expanding agent networks, introducing customer incentives, and promoting savings products through its SmartCash platform.
Airtel Africa Records Strong Continental Performance
Across its 14 African markets, Airtel Africa increased total subscribers to 183.5 million users, while group revenue rose 29.47% to $6.42 billion. Profit after tax surged by 147.87% during the financial year.
The company attributed the growth to stronger operational execution, favourable industry conditions, macroeconomic improvements, and tariff adjustments in Nigeria.
For Nigeria’s telecom industry, the results signal a possible return to large-scale infrastructure investment after years of rising costs, FX volatility, and shrinking margins.
Digitnomics Insight
Nigeria’s rise to Airtel Africa’s second-largest market by subscriber revenue shows how the 2025 tariff increase has revived telecom profitability after years of FX pressure and shrinking margins.
The bigger story, however, is that while Nigeria dominates telecom earnings and data consumption, it still lags badly in mobile money adoption compared to East Africa.
This signals that Nigeria’s next major digital economy opportunity may not just be connectivity — but telecom-driven financial services.
