Airtel Africa, one of the leading Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has reported that the deployment of its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered spam detection system, Spam Alert, dropped Nigeria’s spam SMS by 84 per cent over the past six months.
A statement signed by the Vice President, Corporate Communications and CSR at Airtel Africa, Sir Emeka Oparah, indicated that the free service flagged more than 205 million fraudulent and unsolicited messages across 13 African markets in the past six months.
According to the telecom operator, Kenya registered the highest spam volume with 68 million flagged messages, followed by Tanzania with 47 million and Zambia with 33 million during the period under review.
The company maintained that Nigeria stood out with the steepest decline, reflecting the strong impact of Spam Alert in the country’s fight against unsolicited text messages.
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The Spam Alert service prefixes suspicious SMS with “SPAM Alert,” giving users real-time protection without the need for additional apps, thereby making it easier for subscribers to avoid phishing scams and nuisance messages that often target mobile money users and smartphone owners.
Speaking on the feat, Airtel Africa CEO, Sunil Taldar, said: “We are proud to pioneer an advanced tech solution powered by AI in tackling spam messages that are a major concern in Africa as smartphone penetration increases.”
The MNO disclosed that the Spam Alert service had contributed to a 12% overall reduction in spam SMS across SSA as it remained currently active in 13 of Airtel’s 14 markets, including Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Malawi, Madagascar, DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania, Chad, and Niger.
It would be recalled that in July this year, Airtel Nigeria announced that the spam alert service had intercepted over 9.6 million suspicious text messages on its network between March 13 and May 20, 2025, adding that the flagged messages comprised 528,080 originating from Airtel users and 9,138,928 from off-network sources.
As expected, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has described the MNO’s step as desirable to the industry’s proactive steps to manage digital risks.
The Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida, commented: “Spam messages and fraud are becoming more sophisticated, and this AI-powered solution provides a much-needed layer of security.”
