Delivering better network experiences and unlocking growth
Revenue
$1,550m
reported currency +19.2%
constant currency +14.8%
Operating profit
$304m
reported currency +38.8%
constant currency +33.7%
Underlying EBITDA
$618m
reported currency +22.4%
constant currency +18.1%
ARPU
$3.4
reported currency +5.7%
constant currency +1.8%
Other market participants
Chad: Maroc, Sotel
The DRC: Vodacom, Orange, Africell
Gabon: Moov (Maroc Telecom)
Madagascar: Orange, Telma
Niger: Zamani, Moov (Maroc Telecom), Niger Telecom
Republic of the Congo: MTN, Congo Telecom
The Seychelles: Cable & Wireless, Intelvision
Anwar Soussa
Regional director, Francophone Africa
1
This year, we focused on disciplined execution – strengthening network reliability and expanding digital access to support everyday lives and local businesses. Our commitment to customers and markets remains clear: to accelerate digital inclusion, enable growth and deliver meaningful impact.
2
Revenue ($m)
Growth percentage in constant currency
Underlying EBITDA ($m)
* Underlying EBITDA margin (%)
Revenue split
Summarised statement of operations1
1 The Francophone Africa business region consists of Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, Republic of the Congo and the Seychelles. 2 Voice revenue includes inter-segment revenue of $1m in the year ended 31 March 2026 and $2m in the prior period. Excluding inter-segment revenue, voice revenue was $638m in the year ended 31 March 2026 and $612m in the prior period. 3 Other revenue includes inter-segment revenue of $9m in the year ended 31 March 2026 and $3m in the prior period. Excluding inter-segment revenue, other revenue was $122m in year ended 31 March 2026 and $117m in the prior period. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Description | Unit of measure | Year ended | Reported currency change | Constant currency change | |
Mar-26 | Mar-25 | ||||
Revenue | $m | 1,550 | 1,300 | 19.2% | 14.8% |
Voice revenue 2 | $m | 639 | 614 | 4.0% | (0.8%) |
Data revenue | $m | 780 | 566 | 37.9% | 33.8% |
Other revenue 3 | $m | 131 | 120 | 8.6% | 5.7% |
Underlying EBITDA | $m | 618 | 505 | 22.4% | 18.1% |
Underlying EBITDA margin | % | 39.9% | 38.8% | 105 bps | 111 bps |
Depreciation and amortisation | $m | (261) | (231) | 12.9% | 8.2% |
Operating profit | $m | 304 | 219 | 38.8% | 33.7% |
Capex | $m | 225 | 159 | 40.9% | 40.9% |
Operating free cash flow | $m | 393 | 346 | 13.9% | 7.7% |
Operating KPIs | |||||
Total customer base | million | 40.9 | 35.2 | 16.3% | |
Data customer base | million | 16.4 | 12.8 | 27.6% | |
Mobile services ARPU | $ | 3.4 | 3.2 | 5.7% | 1.8% |
The seven countries in our Francophone Africa segment represent a highly attractive structural growth market. In a region with limited telecoms infrastructure, most people are entirely reliant on mobile services to access connections to each other and the digital economy. The opportunity to increase digital inclusion is huge – and by focusing on expanding our networks to provide affordable data access while enhancing customers’ experience, we're delivering strong growth in customer numbers and revenues.
This year we continued to modernise our networks through 4G upgrades, new sites and additional fibre rollouts. Proactive monitoring and maintenance improved the resilience of our service. Demand for home broadband (HBB) accelerated rapidly, supported by our stronger networks, satellite services and technology solutions that ensure customers remain connected during power fluctuations. Our partnership with Starlink (see Mobile services) will add further momentum, significantly boosting connectivity in Francophone Africa's large, rural and forested geographies.
We supported this network expansion by reinforcing our go-to-market execution, expanding our SIM-card distribution network and increasing our use of digital sales tools.
We did face a number of headwinds in some markets in 2025/26, including insecurity, supply chain challenges and cost-of-living pressures for customers. A combination of strong business continuity planning, diversified power sources, including solar, and sharper pricing and marketing campaigns helped offset these headwinds. And our focus on customer experience helped attract 3.5 million new data customers and grew our overall customer base by 16.3%.
Revenue grew by 19.2% in reported currency and by 14.8% in constant currency. Higher reported currency revenue growth compared to constant currency was due to an appreciation in the CFA. This year's growth of 14.8% in constant currency demonstrates a significant improvement from 7.9% in the prior year. This follows a recovery in market trends and the benefits of sustained network investment and intensive focus on ‘go-to-market’ initiatives.
Voice revenue declined by 0.8% in constant currency as customer base growth of 16.3% was more than offset by a decline in voice ARPU reflecting interconnect rate reductions.
Data revenue grew by 33.8% in constant currency, supported by data customer base growth of 27.6%. Our continued 4G network rollout supported an increase in total data traffic of 62.2%, with data usage per customer growing by 25.3%. Furthermore, 93.6% of sites are now on 4G as compared to 87.7% in the prior period. Data usage per customer increased to 6.8 GB per month (up from 5.4 GB in the prior period), with smartphone penetration increasing by 4.6% to reach 47.7% as of 31 March 2026. Smartphone data usage per customer reached 8.1 GB per month compared to 6.5 GB per month in the prior period.
Underlying EBITDA of $618m increased by 22.4% and 18.1% in reported and constant currency, respectively. The underlying EBITDA margin improved to 39.9%, an increase of 105 basis points, driven by continued strong revenue growth.
Operating free cash flow of $393m increased by 7.7% in constant currency, due to the increase in underlying EBITDA, partially offset by higher capex.
We operate in an evolving legal and regulatory landscape. Relevant changes in Francophone Africa this year include:
Mobile termination regulation (MTR)
The Democratic Republic of Congo
In March 2025, the regulator set the mobile termination rate (MTR) for the period 2025 and 2026 as $0.01 and $0.005, respectively.
The Republic of Congo
In June 2025, the regulator set voice mobile termination rates for 2025 at Congo Telecom CFA5, MTN CFA4.5 and Airtel Congo B CFA5.5 and for 2026 at Congo Telecom CFA4.5, MTN CFA4 and Airtel Congo B CFA5.
Chad
In July 2025, the regulator issued the new MTR glidepath for voice at CFA5 in 2025, CFA3 in 2026 and CFA2.5 in 2027.
Spectrum
Niger
In December 2025, Airtel Niger acquired 1MHz in the 1800MHz band and 20MHz in the 2600MHz band at a cost of approximately $1.3m.
Transforming lives in action
Accelerating smartphone adoption in the DRC
Access to smartphones is a key step for customers looking to join the digital ecosystem – but smartphone penetration rates remain relatively low in our Francophone markets, where handset affordability is a frequent barrier to digital inclusion.
We’re working to change that through strategic initiatives and partnerships that unlock smartphone ownership for customers and open up the possibilities of mobile data. In the DRC this year, we rolled out the Transsion project, a partnership with leading handset manufacturers TECNO, Infinix, Itel and ZTE. The impact has been rapid, especially in Kinshasa and large urban areas, with more than a million new handsets being adopted, contributing to a year-on-year increase in smartphone penetration of 4.9% to 50.1% as of 31 March 2026.
It means more people, businesses and schools having access to data – while supporting the growth of our customer base and revenues so that we can continue to invest in the DRC’s digital future.
