Tech in Africa
Airtel Africa just posted revenues of $899 million during the first quarter of 2020. The performance report is available on their website.Q1 recorded a 15 percent increase in revenues which was $118 million more than that of the previous year.
Airtel Africa is under Indian giant Bharti Airtel but has carved out a respectable niche as one of the biggest companies in the continent. They currently operate in 14 African countries providing data, voice, tower, and mobile money services to their 110 million customers.
Their earnings report shows that voice calls contribute the lions share of their revenues. This was $510 million to be exact and was recorded for the first quarter. That is 5.9 percent from the past year. Their top income-generating market was Nigeria where they boast an impressive 41.8 million mobile subscribers. Voice revenue from Nigeria was up significantly, accounting for 16 percent and closing at $234 million.
Voice revenues from Airtel francophone and East Africa grew at a much slower pace, 10.3 and 6.7 percent respectively. The report, however, downplayed the unprecedented rise in voice calls. It indicated the change in customer behavior as they have less disposable income. The report further conceded the “unpredictability” of how the public health crisis accompanied by lockdown will bear on customers and businesses.
As of start 2019, the company has been on an upward trajectory revenue-wise. In a show of resilience, the company believes the recent uptick in data use and mobile money should be enough to cushion it in the event of a downtrend in voice calls revenue.
