Vodafone’s Africa Business Delivers Double-Digit Service Revenue Growth in Q1 FY27

Vodafone Group  reported a solid start to its 2027 financial year, with Africa maintaining double-digit growth and emerging as one of the strongest-performing regions in the first quarter ended June 30, 2026. The company said total revenue from its African operations rose 14.8% year-on-year to €2.2 billion, while service revenue increased 15.1% to €1.79 billion. On an organic basis, service revenue grew 12.6%, up from 10.9% in the previous quarter, driven by growth across all Vodacom markets.

In South Africa, service revenue growth was supported by higher mobile revenue, aided by contract price increases, rising prepaid data traffic and expanding business digital services. Fixed service revenue also increased as the company continued to grow its fibre footprint. Financial services revenue reached €50 million, recording organic growth of 6.6%, driven by insurance products, merchant services and lending marketplace offerings.

Egypt also delivered strong performance, with service revenue increasing well above inflation in both local currency and euro terms. Vodafone attributed the growth to higher data traffic, strong financial services performance and industry-wide price increases introduced in May 2026. Vodafone Cash recorded organic revenue growth of 72.9% to €50 million, accelerating significantly from the previous quarter’s 37.3% growth.

Across Vodacom’s international markets, including Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique, service revenue growth was underpinned by robust data consumption and continued expansion of M-Pesa. The mobile financial services platform posted organic revenue growth of 23.6% to €137 million and now accounts for 31.2% of service revenue in these markets, supported by lending, savings and merchant services. Vodacom Business service revenue also increased 12.9%, with growth driven by core connectivity, digital services and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions delivered through public sector projects.

The company also continued to expand its customer base during the quarter. In South Africa, Vodafone added 37,000 mobile contract customers, bringing its contract customer base to more than 7 million while prepaid subscribers reached 41.7 million. More than 72% of its active mobile customers now use data services, while its VodaPay super-app has grown to 3 million active users. Egypt added 74,000 contract customers and 1.2 million prepaid customers, with Vodafone Cash reaching 15.7 million users after adding one million customers during the quarter. Meanwhile, Vodacom’s international operations added 1.2 million mobile customers, increasing the regional subscriber base to 68.4 million, while active M-Pesa users rose to 29.3 million.

Vodafone also advanced its network expansion strategy in Africa. During the quarter, Vodafone Mozambique secured a 5G licence and acquired 210 MHz of spectrum across multiple frequency bands for US$56 million, with payment and licence terms currently being finalised with the country’s telecommunications regulator.

The quarter also marked a significant portfolio milestone for the Group. On June 30, 2026, Vodacom completed the acquisition of an effective 20% stake in Safaricom, purchasing 15% from the Government of Kenya for €1.36 billion and a further 5% from Vodafone for €450 million. Following the transaction, Vodacom’s stake in Safaricom increased to 55%, with the Government of Kenya holding 20% and public investors owning the remaining 25%. Safaricom will now be fully consolidated into both Vodacom and Vodafone Group’s financial results from July 1, 2026.