Searching for dividend progress shares? These FTSE 100 shares are anticipated to ship robust payout progress over the subsequent couple of years at the least.

BAE Techniques

Dividend yield: 2.5% for 2024, 2.7% for 2025

The steady nature of arms spending means defence tends to be a rock-solid sector for dividends. That is particularly the case at this time, as fractures within the world order drive fast rearmament within the West.

BAE Techniques (LSE:BA.) is one contractor with an extended file of distinguished dividend progress. It’s raised shareholder payouts yearly since 2011. It’s a pattern Metropolis analysts anticipate to proceed, making it price a detailed look in my view.

Payouts are anticipated to rise 8%, to 32.3p per share, this yr. Dividend progress is predicted to speed up to 10% in 2025, leading to a full-year payout of 35.5p.

Forecasts for subsequent yr are supported by anticipated earnings rises of seven% and 12% in 2024 and 2025 respectively. As a consequence, estimated dividends for each years are lined 2.1 instances by predicted earnings.

Each readings are above the protection benchmark of two instances, offering dividends forecasts with further metal.

BAE additionally has robust monetary foundations to fund dividends in case earnings disappoint. Earnings could fall in need of estimates attributable to provide chain points, as an illustration, a major risk to defence corporations’ annual earnings at this time.

The Footsie agency had £2.8bn of money on the stability sheet as of June.

BAE Techniques’ order backlog is surging, and it hit a file £74.1bn on the midpoint of 2025. It seems to be set to maintain rising too, which bodes nicely for longer-term dividends.

Airtel Africa

Dividend yield: 5.4% for 2025, 5.5% for 2026

Telecoms supplier Airtel Africa (LSE:AAF) doesn’t have an extended file of dividend progress like BAE. It’s solely been listed on the London Inventory Alternate for 5 years. It additionally reduce the annual payout in 2021 because it rebased dividends to chop debt.

Nonetheless, money payouts have surged since then, and by greater than double-digit percentages on events. It’s a pattern that Metropolis brokers anticipate to hold on.

For this monetary yr (to March 2025), a complete dividend of 6.52 US cents per share is predicted, up 10% yr on yr. An extra 3% rise is anticipated for monetary 2026, to six.70 cents.

Nonetheless, I have to warn that Airtel’s forecasts aren’t as sturdy as I’d ideally like.

Earnings are skidding decrease attributable to hostile forex actions (EBITDA dropped 16.5% between April and September). And leverage ranges are sharply rising, with net-debt-to-EBITDA rising to 2.3 instances as of September.

Falling earnings additionally imply dividend cowl turns destructive for this yr, with predicted earnings of 46.7 US cents per share forecast. On the plus aspect, Metropolis analysts anticipate earnings to rebound strongly in monetary 2026, leaving sturdy dividend cowl of two.7 instances.

But regardless of the unsure near-term outlook, I nonetheless consider Airtel Africa shares are price critical consideration by risk-tolerant traders.

What’s extra, I consider the long-term image right here stays extremely enticing. Telecoms demand for Africa continues to rocket, with Airtel’s buyer base rising 6.1% yr on yr to 156.6m in September.