Mobile operator Etisalat’s African subscribers reached 71.1 million for the period ended 30 September 2014, the company announced on Wednesday.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based telco has operations in 19 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

According to Etisalat’s consolidated interim financial results the rise in African subscribers represents a 156% increase year-on-year.

In the statement the telco notes that the increase of its African subscribers was mainly driven by the consolidation of Maroc Telecom and strong performance by Etisalat Nigeria.

Earlier this year the UAE firm acquired a 53% stake in Maroc Telecom, which has operations in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania.

In the financial report Etisalat indicated that Maroc Telecom’s subscriber base exceeded 39 million customers at the end of 30 September 2014.

This represents a 10% year-over-year growth, the statement reads.

In Nigeria Etisalat is the fourth largest mobile operator with more than 18 million subscribers.

Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, chief executive officer of Etisalat Group commented on the telcos’ performance, “We are increasing our foothold and profitability in the international markets.

“We are confident that the projected growth coming from our international operations will continue to grow on track to contribute at least 50% of our overall revenues in the coming years,” he said.

Julfar added, "Africa remains an important strategic region for our business, we see incredible opportunity for growth as markets continue to develop and flourish.”

For the period Etisalat said overall subscribers across all operations reached 180 million, which represents a net addition of 36 million subscribers over the last 12 months.