Airtel Africa says despite the disruption caused by COVID-19, over the last six months it has grown its customer base by 12% to 116.4-million and its revenue by 14.3%.

The telecommunications services provider has also reintroduced mobile money transaction fees that were waived due to the pandemic.

According to the company’s half year results ended 30 September 2020, revenue growth was recorded across all regions: Nigeria up by 20.2%, the East African region 21.9% and Francophone Africa 4.4%.

Airtel Africa CEO Raghunath Mandava said in these unprecedented times, the telecommunications industry has emerged as a key and essential service for economies.

Mandava said the company has continued to enter new partnerships with leading institutions such as WorldRemit, MoneyGram, Standard Chartered bank and Mukuru, to increase use cases and improve customers’ access to digital payments and financial services.

He added that revenue grew as a result of a strategy focused on expanding distribution in the rural areas, investment in its network and increasing 4G coverage.

“The company has deliver a strong set of results as lockdown restrictions eased during the second quarter and our performance continued to improve with constant currency revenue growth of 19.6%, up by 6.6% from the prior quarter,” said Mandava.

With operations in 16 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, the company said it remains alert to the potential for further disruption from a second wave of COVID-19 across Africa, and the associated actions of governments to minimise contagion.

Mandava said: “Despite the resilience demonstrated by the business during the course of the first wave, we are constantly monitoring how the situation is evolving to identify key risks and put in place adequate mitigation plans to minimise any potential disruptions of reintroduction of stricter social distancing rules.”