RABAT - Maroc Telecom, Morocco's largest telecoms operator, said on Wednesday that first-quarter profit inched up 1.8% as gains in African markets mostly offset sluggish growth at home.

Profit attributable to shareholders was 1.53 billion dirhams ($151 million), the company said in a statement. Consolidated revenue rose 3.7% to 9.09 billion dirhams.

Its customer base rose to 75 million thanks to its African subsidiaries, where mobile data and mobile money services are growing faster than in Morocco. Maroc Telecom has operations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Togo and the Central African Republic.

The company, which is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, is 53% controlled by the UAE’s Etisalat, with the Moroccan state owning 22%.

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Sharon Singleton)