MTN Group has announced plans to spin off its financial technology (fintech) operations in Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda during the first half of 2025.
This move is part of a broader reorganization that will enable Mastercard Inc. to acquire a minority stake in these high-growth units.
MTN CEO Ralph Mupita disclosed this on Monday during an interview with Bloomberg.
The telecommunications giant is required to separate its fintech businesses in these three markets to finalize a deal struck with Mastercard in 2023.
The spin-off process
While the spin-off processes are more advanced in Uganda and Ghana, Nigeria presents additional regulatory complexities.
Mupita noted that Nigeria has “a bit more complexity with some more regulatory processes to work through.”
- Despite these challenges, MTN said it remains committed to completing the reorganization across all three markets.
- In addition to its fintech ambitions, MTN is exploring network-sharing agreements, aligning with a trend already prevalent in European markets.
- This strategy could help the company optimize infrastructure costs and improve service delivery.
The deal
The deal with Mastercard values MTN’s fintech unit at $5.2billion, with the payments giant expected to acquire a stake worth up to $200 million.
Announcing the acquisition deal in 2023 alongside signing of a commercial agreement with Mastercard, MTN said:
“Following the bespoke process to identify and potentially introduce strategic minority investors into MTN Group Fintech, we executed commercial agreements with Mastercard to support the acceleration and growth of our fintech business’s payments and remittance services.
“MTN and Mastercard also signed a memorandum of understanding which provides for a minority investment by Mastercard into Group Fintech based on a total enterprise valuation of about US$5.2 billion for the business on a cash and debt-free basis.
“The signing of the definitive investment agreements is expected to occur in the very near term as we approach the finalization of customary due diligence. The closing of the investment will be subject to customary closing conditions.”
What you should know
MTN, Africa’s largest telecommunications provider by sales, released its financial results for the full-year ended December 31, 2024, posting a loss of 9.59 billion rand for 2024, lower than the estimated loss of 3.87 billion rand.
- The company also announced a dividend of 3.45 rand per share for 2024.
- The company further revealed plans to increase its dividend payout to at least 3.70 rand per share for the current financial year, signaling confidence in its financial performance and growth prospects.
