MTN Group is accelerating its push into Africa’s digital financial services sector, targeting Nigeria’s lending market as it advances plans to spin off its mobile money operations into a standalone fintech powerhouse.
The telecommunications giant says its MoMo platform processed more than US$500 billion in transactions in 2025, highlighting the scale of its growing financial ecosystem as it shifts beyond payments into credit, merchant services and broader banking style products.
The company is now finalising the separation of its fintech businesses in Nigeria and Uganda, a strategic restructuring designed to attract new investors, including Mastercard, and position the business for deeper expansion across Africa’s underbanked markets.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation, sits at the centre of MTN’s strategy. With an estimated $236 billion small and medium enterprise credit gap and heavy reliance on cash transactions, the market presents both the biggest opportunity and one of the toughest regulatory environments for digital finance growth.
MTN Group Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said the separation process is complex but necessary to unlock value. He noted that the company is open to selling minority stakes of up to 30 percent in its fintech operations, although it is not being driven by an immediate public listing timeline.
Nigeria’s regulatory approval process is also key to MTN’s ambitions. The company is seeking Payment Solution Service Provider and Payment Terminal Service Provider licences for its MoMo Payment Service Bank subsidiary, approvals that would allow it to expand merchant services, deploy payment terminals, and reduce reliance on third party processors.
At present, MTN’s mobile money operations largely function as payment and transfer platforms, earning revenue from transaction fees and partnerships. However, the company is now moving into a more competitive phase of financial services expansion.
Group Fintech Chief Executive Serigne Dioum confirmed that MTN intends to move further up the financial value chain by entering direct lending where regulations permit. This would allow the company not only to facilitate loans through partners but also to issue credit directly using its own balance sheet.
The move represents a major strategic shift for MTN, potentially transforming its fintech arm from a payments facilitator into a full scale digital lender. While this could significantly boost revenue, it also introduces credit risk and places the company in direct competition with commercial banks and digital lending platforms.
Across Africa, access to credit remains extremely limited. Industry data suggests that only about 4 to 5 percent of adults have access to formal credit, while in Nigeria alone nearly 80 percent of small and medium enterprises remain underserved by traditional banking systems.
This financing gap has created a large opportunity for fintech companies to step in. MTN believes its vast customer base, agent network, and transaction data give it a competitive advantage in assessing creditworthiness and scaling lending services.
The company’s fintech division is already one of the largest in Africa. In 2025, MTN’s mobile money ecosystem processed approximately $500.3 billion in transaction value and recorded more than 23 billion transactions across its markets. It also reached nearly 70 million monthly active users, making it one of the continent’s most influential digital payment platforms.
MTN’s expansion strategy is being closely watched by global financial players. Mastercard has previously signalled interest in taking a minority stake in MTN’s fintech operations, while the telecoms group is also working with Ant Group’s Alipay to upgrade its mobile money infrastructure and expand digital financial services.
The competitive landscape is intensifying. Airtel Africa is also preparing its Airtel Money division for a potential public listing, which could value the business at up to $10 billion. That development has increased pressure on MTN to demonstrate the standalone value of its fintech operations.
Regulators, particularly in Nigeria, will play a decisive role in shaping MTN’s future in financial services. Authorities have historically been cautious about allowing telecom companies to expand aggressively into banking functions, citing risks related to financial stability, consumer protection, and market concentration.
Despite these challenges, MTN is positioning itself for long term dominance in Africa’s digital financial ecosystem. By combining payments, merchant services, and potential lending capabilities, the company aims to build a more integrated financial platform serving individuals and businesses across the continent.
Analysts say the success of this strategy will depend on regulatory approvals, investor participation, and MTN’s ability to manage credit risk while scaling across diverse markets.
If successful, MTN’s fintech transformation could reshape how money moves across Africa, shifting the continent further away from cash based systems toward a digitally driven financial economy.
