Airtel Africa has recorded a significant turnaround in its financial performance, reporting a profit after tax of $248 million for the nine months ending December 31, 2024.

This marks a dramatic improvement from the modest $2 million profit posted during the same period in 2023. The company’s latest financial result, released on Thursday, attributes this remarkable growth to a $94 million exceptional gain following the appreciation of the Nigerian naira and the Tanzanian shilling, which contributed to a more favorable exchange rate environment for the telecom giant.

Despite the strong profit recovery, Airtel Africa’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stood at $1.68 billion, reflecting an 11.9 percent decline in reported currency terms. The company explained that this was largely due to higher operational costs, particularly increased fuel expenses and a lower contribution from its Nigerian business.

Nevertheless, the telecom provider implemented cost-efficiency measures that helped improve its EBITDA margins, rising from 45.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025 to 46.9 percent in the third quarter.

The company’s revenue for the nine-month period grew by 20.4 percent in constant currency, reaching $3.64 billion. This growth was driven by a significant increase in the number of subscribers and the growing adoption of mobile money services across its markets. However, in reported currency, revenue declined by 5.8 percent due to the persistent impact of currency devaluations in several countries where Airtel Africa operates.

Airtel Africa’s total customer base expanded by 7.9 percent year-on-year, bringing the total number of subscribers to 163.1 million. The company also recorded substantial growth in its data segment, as the number of data subscribers increased by 13.8 percent to 71.4 million. With rising demand for digital services, the company saw data usage per customer surge by 32.3 percent, reaching an average of 6.9 gigabytes per month. The increase in data consumption was further supported by a rise in smartphone penetration, which climbed by 5.2 percent to 44.2 percent.

The company’s mobile money business played a crucial role in sustaining growth, with mobile money subscribers increasing by 18.3 percent to reach 44.3 million. Mobile money transaction value also rose significantly by 33.3 percent, with an annualized transaction volume hitting $146 billion. The increasing reliance on digital financial services helped drive mobile money revenue growth, which climbed by 29.6 percent in constant currency terms.

Airtel Africa’s overall mobile services also experienced growth, with voice revenue increasing by 9.8 percent, data revenue rising by 29.5 percent, and mobile money revenue surging by 29.6 percent. These strong performances helped support an overall increase in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), which grew by 12 percent year-on-year. Data ARPU saw a 15 percent rise, while mobile money ARPU increased by 11.8 percent, reinforcing the company’s ability to generate higher revenues from its expanding customer base.

Commenting on the company’s performance, Sunil Taldar, CEO of Airtel Africa, expressed optimism about the company’s strategic direction.

“We have delivered improved operational and financial performance, driven by our focus on customer experience, network expansion, and digital transformation.

“Demand for our services remains strong despite economic challenges, and our cost efficiency program has contributed to EBITDA margin expansion,” he said.

Taldar highlighted that demand for Airtel Africa’s services remained strong despite macroeconomic challenges and that the company’s cost-efficiency initiatives had contributed to the expansion of its EBITDA margin.

He also pointed to signs of currency stabilization in some markets, particularly in Nigeria, where the country’s regulatory authority, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has provided support for tariff adjustments. This development, according to him, is expected to contribute to a more stable operating environment in the coming months. However, he acknowledged that currency volatility and broader macroeconomic challenges continue to pose risks, though the company remains committed to investing in network expansion and digital inclusion to sustain long-term growth.

Despite the positive financial turnaround, Airtel Africa still faces notable risks that could affect its future performance. Currency fluctuations remain a significant challenge, as many African currencies continue to experience volatility, which can impact the company’s earnings. Rising inflation and increasing costs of fuel, logistics, and infrastructure could further strain margins, especially in markets where economic conditions remain fragile.

Additionally, regulatory uncertainty continues to be a major factor, as governments in various African countries frequently introduce new policies related to tariffs, taxation, and telecom regulations that could impact operations.

Nevertheless, Airtel Africa appears well-positioned to maintain its momentum, supported by the ongoing expansion of its mobile money platform, increasing data consumption, and a resilient subscriber base.

Do not be confused that many US entities are reporting that DeepSeek is vulnerable and people could copy this and see this in its ecosystem: “Researchers from leading cloud security company Wiz have published its findings following the discovery of a publicly accessible database belonging to DeepSeek. The critical database allowed full control over operations, including access to internal data. This exposure included over a million lines of log streams containing highly sensitive information.“

Good People, it is all part of the strategy to win in the marketplace. In our first edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA, I intentionally made our courseware easy for people to use by posting the videos on YouTube (unlisted). As friends and buddies fed and got hooked, we revoked access, and amazingly, they paid up. I learnt that playbook from Microsoft and that is what China’s DeepSeek will be doing as it works to win the AI future.

Many decades ago, Microsoft was in a battle with Linux in China. Microsoft was seen as being expensive when Linux was largely free. Many people were adopting Linux as their preferred operating system. From my thesis, Microsoft decided to make whatever Windows it was shipping to China easy to “steal”, and people stole, making illegal copies at scale. Just like that, everyone had a “free” Windows.

The adoption was so high that Linux gave up. Then within weeks, Microsoft offered everyone a deal: with $1, you can get the real version of Windows. Many paid, and China became a Windows Nation. 

So, expect DeepSeek to use the same playbook as it competes from the flanks. By being an open source solution, it has taken the first step. Simply, it does not have to be great to win, it just needs to be good since it is largely free. And by making its database and everything stealable, it will make it easier for those starting at limited budgets to see “wins”. By the time we are done, we would be deep in seeking with DeepSeek.

I posit that an AI project in Africa can just begin with DeepSeek since you can even copy everything and start from there. Microsoft has already done that and will do the necessary patches to make the product available to its Azure customers. Then in that platform, you could see: DeepSeek model $2, OpenAI model $50, etc. If DeepSeek is decent enough (it is indeed), it will take over the Azure community, especially in the developing world!

Meta’s stock edged higher in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company delivered a strong fourth-quarter earnings report that exceeded analysts’ expectations on both revenue and profit.

The results showcased Meta’s continued dominance in the social media and digital advertising space, while also shedding light on its deep investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse—two areas that remain key to its long-term strategy.

Meta’s earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter stood at $8.02, surpassing the expected $6.77, while revenue reached $48.39 billion, ahead of the estimated $47.04 billion. This marked a 21% year-over-year increase in sales, reflecting the resilience of Meta’s advertising business despite broader economic challenges. Meanwhile, net income surged by 49% to $20.8 billion, up from $14 billion a year earlier, indicating improved profitability.

The company projected first-quarter revenue to range between $39.5 billion and $41.8 billion, slightly below Wall Street’s expectations of $41.73 billion at the midpoint.

Despite this cautious guidance, Meta’s stock remained strong, reflecting investor confidence in the company’s expanding AI and advertising businesses.

Zuckerberg Signals Stronger Relationship with U.S. Government

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a notably optimistic tone on the company’s evolving relationship with the U.S. government, particularly under the current administration.

“We now have a U.S. administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning, and that will defend our values and interests abroad,” Zuckerberg told investors on a call. “I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock.”

His remarks suggest that Meta expects fewer regulatory hurdles and stronger government backing for its expansion into AI and emerging technologies.

Meta AI Grows

Meta continues to ramp up its artificial intelligence initiatives, with its Meta AI chatbot surpassing 700 million monthly active users—an increase from 600 million in December.

Zuckerberg projected that Meta AI could reach one billion users in 2024, emphasizing the competitive advantage that comes with scale: “Once a service reaches that kind of scale, it usually develops a durable, long-term advantage,” he noted.

Meta’s push for open-source AI models was also a key theme. Zuckerberg cited the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese-built open-source large language model, as evidence that Meta’s Llama-branded AI models could gain widespread adoption.

“There’s going to be an open-source standard globally,” he said. “For our own national advantage, it’s important that it’s an American standard.”

Meta is moving quickly on AI development, having finished training a mini version of Llama 4, with the larger version progressing well.

Reality Labs Lost Billions, but Long-Term Vision Remains

Meta’s commitment to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) continues to be a costly bet. The Reality Labs unit recorded a fourth-quarter operating loss of $4.97 billion, slightly better than analyst expectations of $5.4 billion in losses. The division generated $1.1 billion in revenue, primarily from its Quest VR headsets and Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

Since its inception, Reality Labs has accumulated over $60 billion in losses, raising persistent concerns on Wall Street about whether Meta’s heavy metaverse spending will ever pay off.

However, Meta continues to double down on its investment in the space. The company recently unveiled its Orion prototype AR headset, which can overlay digital objects onto a real-world field of view. It also released the $299 Quest 3S VR headset, designed for entertainment and fitness applications.

Meta’s $60-65 billion capital expenditure plan for 2025 underscores its ongoing commitment to expanding computing infrastructure, primarily for AI-driven initiatives. Zuckerberg reiterated that AI remains core to Meta’s broader ambitions, including its metaverse strategy.

However, Meta faces intensifying competition in the VR/AR space.

Apple launched its Vision Pro headset in February 2024, priced at $3,499, targeting a high-end consumer and enterprise market. Google and Samsung are working on a VR/AR device called “Project Moohan,” set for release in 2025.

Meta, however, is positioning itself as the affordable alternative to Apple’s premium offering, while betting on its AI ecosystem to drive mass adoption.

The behemoth’s fourth-quarter results reinforced its leadership in digital advertising while highlighting its aggressive push into AI and immersive technologies.

While the Reality Labs losses remain a concern, the company’s profitability and continued growth in AI services signal strong long-term prospects.

With a more favorable regulatory environment, expanding AI capabilities, and a growing metaverse ecosystem, Meta appears well-positioned to navigate 2025.