London, July 24 -- Telecommunications firm Airtel Africa's total customer base grew by 9.0 per cent to 169.4 million, with data customers increasing 17.4 per cent to 75.6 million, it said in a statement on Thursday.

This, alongside a 4.3 per cent increase in smartphone penetration to 45.9 per cent, contributed to accelerating demand for data services with data ARPU growth accelerating to 18.5 per cent in constant currency as data usage across our network increased by 47.4 per cent.

The telecom company said Airtel Money continues to play a pivotal role in fostering financial inclusion with a 16.1 per cent increase in customers to 45.8 million.

As use cases continue to expand, customers are increasingly engaging with a wide range of offe...