Malagasy tycoon Hassanein Hiridjee’s Axian Telecom posts $980 million H1 revenue

Axian Telecom, the pan-African telecommunications and digital infrastructure provider backed by Malagasy businessman Hassanein Hiridjee, delivered robust top-line growth in the first half of 2026, supported by expanding mobile financial services, surging data usage, and the integration of Wananchi Group. The performance underscores steady commercial expansion across its core markets despite fair-value investment pressures.

Revenue surges toward $1 billion as customer base widens

The telecom group operating across Tanzania, Madagascar, Togo, Senegal, Comoros, Uganda, DRC, and Kenya, reported total revenue of $979.96 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026, an increase of 26.5 percent from $774.88 million in the first half of 2025, according to its latest financial statements. For the second quarter of 2026, revenue climbed 25.5 percent to $503.43 million from $401.16 million in the corresponding period of 2025.

The top-line performance drove adjusted EBITDA up 23.6 percent to $398.67 million in the six-month period from $322.61 million a year earlier, with adjusted EBITDA margin standing at 40.7 percent. However, pre-tax profit declined to $38.04 million from $68.05 million in H1 2025, while net profit fell to $1.39 million from $46.29 million, primarily due to an $80.5 million adverse year-on-year fair valuation impact on its investment in Jumia Technologies AG.

Fintech and data drive growth across key African markets

Mobile and fixed-line communications remained Axian Telecom’s largest revenue contributor, rising 21.9 percent to $724.9 million from $594.77 million in H1 2025. Digital and mobile financial services revenue jumped 42.0 percent to $211.31 million from $148.77 million, while infrastructure operations generated $38.50 million compared with $30.9 million a year earlier.

Operationally, revenue-generating subscribers increased by 9.3 percent year-on-year to 45.49 million as of June 30, 2026, up from 41.60 million, driven by customer additions across Tanzania, Madagascar, and Senegal. Active data users climbed 14.2 percent to 15.74 million, while active mobile financial services users expanded 18.8 percent to 19.01 million, propelled by user gains in Mixx Tanzania and Mixx Togo. In the infrastructure division, owned towers rose to 5,210 and shared towers reached 3,756, bringing the portfolio tenancy ratio to 1.35x.

Network investments lift assets above $4.3 billion

Axian Telecom remains an established digital infrastructure and mobile services provider across sub-Saharan Africa, operating retail, enterprise, and fintech brands including Yas, Mixx, MVola, Towerco of Africa, and Silver Links. The group operates under the leadership of founder and director Hassanein Hiridjee alongside Chief Executive Officer Hassan Jaber.

As a result of ongoing operational expansion and capital investments, the group’s asset base expanded. Total assets increased to $4.32 billion as of June 30, 2026, from $4.19 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. Cash and cash equivalents, net of bank overdrafts, stood at $297.73 million compared with $153.77 million six months earlier, while the group closed the half-year with an adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.2x.