The accounting separation of the mobile payment branch follows a first contractual agreement with Mastercard in 2023, which allowed the valuation of the financial technology entity to be established at around $5.2 billion. The executive is currently ruling out the obligation of a rigid timeline for the initial public offering, instead favoring direct partnerships to support the expansion of financial services.

The autonomy of the financial division is based on a growth dynamic that transforms the revenue profile of the operator in the fourteen markets where its operating licenses are in circulation. Under the leadership of Serigne Dioum, the financial pole has captured a turnover of 28.8 billion rands, equivalent to $1.7 billion, during the 2025 financial year. The cumulative volume of transactions processed on the MoMo platforms has reached the threshold of $500 billion. To support the diversification of the credit offer from the company's own funds, MTN is deploying a technical alliance with Alipay, the technological platform of Ant Group, whose operational integration will start in Nigeria in the coming weeks. The strengthening of transactional capabilities aims to block the commercial expansion of specialized operators such as OPay and PalmPay, whose stock market progression is disrupting traditional market shares in West Africa.

The repositioning of the South African operator is taking place in a context of intense stock market competition for control of electronic money on the African continent. The direct competitor Airtel Africa is simultaneously carrying out preparatory maneuvers to list its own mobile payment division, whose theoretical capitalization estimates are approaching $10 billion. The arbitration of institutional investors will depend on the viability of the economic models presented, while regional central banks are tightening the conditions for holding deposit licenses. For the Treasury of telecom subsidiaries, the sale of minority equity blocks offers the advantage of raising immediate liquidity without losing control of corporate governance, ensuring the financing of next-generation network infrastructure without increasing the group's consolidated debt ratio.


BCN

Tags: mtn fintech paiement mobile mastercard alipay afrique technologie financiere investissements telecoms