Vodacom Tanzania’s service revenue grew 20.5 percent to 1,516.0bn/- in the year ended March 2025, supported by strong commercial momentum that saw its customer base increase by 15.7 percent and average revenue per customer (ARPU) grow by 4.3 percent.

According to the telecom’s preliminary results, mobile services—which include fixed, digital, IoT, and M-Pesa (excluding peer-to-peer transfers and cash-out)—grew significantly, with their contribution to total service revenue expanding further during the year.

In the fourth quarter, service revenue increased by 22.9 percent, supported by customer growth and a 6.7 percent rise in ARPU.

“This outstanding performance reflects our strategic focus on digital innovation and financial inclusion. The strong momentum in M-Pesa and data services highlights how we are transforming lives and driving economic growth across Tanzania,” said Phillip Besiimire, Managing Director of Vodacom Tanzania.

Mobile voice revenue rose by 8.7 percent to 310.6bn/-, underpinned by customer growth, customer value management (CVM) initiatives, and enhanced service quality.

However, competition in voice pricing continued, leading to a 1.3 percent decline in the average price per minute, although overall traffic grew due to ongoing network investment.

M-Pesa revenue surged 29.3 percent to 590.0bn/-, increasing its contribution to service revenue by 2.7 percentage points to reach 38.9 percent.

The growth was driven by both higher ARPU and a rising number of M-Pesa users.

“Our strategy to expand new services in the M-Pesa ecosystem—including lending, insurance, savings, and merchant services—continued to pay off. Revenue from these services grew by close to 50 percent year-on-year, and their contribution to M-Pesa revenue continues to expand,” Besiimire noted.

He added that the success of these services has supported Vodacom’s revenue diversification and contributed to deeper financial inclusion. In the fourth quarter, M-Pesa revenue rose by 32.4 percent.

Mobile data revenue grew by 21.6 percent to 422.2bn/-, driven by strong growth in data users and traffic, boosted by increased adoption of 4G and 5G services. The number of smartphones on the network also rose, aided by effective commercial execution and continued network investment.

During the year, Vodacom upgraded 286 4G sites and significantly expanded its transmission capacity—both locally and internationally—via the National ICT Backbone and undersea leased capacity. In Q4, mobile data revenue rose by 28.6 percent.

Digital and value-added services (VAS) revenue, which includes airtime advance and other services, increased 4.1 percent to 40.3bn/-.

Growth was driven by greater product uptake and ongoing efforts to simplify the subscription process while improving transparency and customer control.

Mobile incoming revenue increased by 2.7 percent to 49.7bn/-, attributed to a rise in call minutes from growing customer numbers, partially offset by a 4.5 percent reduction in regulated mobile termination rates.

Fixed data revenue jumped 36.7 percent to 42.0bn/- as Vodacom pushed forward its ambition to connect more homes and businesses. The segment maintained robust growth in Q4 with a 28.0 percent increase.

Total operating expenses rose by 17.6 percent to 546.3bn/-.

Excluding foreign currency losses and one-off costs related to a fibre consortium settlement with the government, expenses grew by 12.9 percent.

“We prioritised investment to ensure quality of service and an excellent customer experience through network expansion, enhanced capacity, and acquisition of additional international fibre capacity for resilience,” Besiimire said.

“The cost increase was driven by network investments to support business growth and, again, by the one-off costs related to the fibre consortium settlement. Excluding these one-offs, other operating expenses rose by 11.3 percent.”

The company generated EBITDA of 493.6bn/-, up 25.2 percent, with an EBITDA margin of 32.1 percent—an improvement of 1.3 percentage points.

Excluding once-off costs and forex losses, underlying EBITDA grew by 33.0 percent, with a margin of 34.1 percent, up 3.3 percentage points. Q4 EBITDA was up 21.0 percent to 124.1bn/-.

Vodacom delivered a 55.0 percent growth in operating profit to 208.2bn/- for the year, with a 34.1 percent increase in Q4.

This was driven by EBITDA growth, while depreciation and amortisation rose by 9.6 percent, largely due to infrastructure investments and spectrum acquired from Smile Communications Tanzania Limited late in the prior financial year.