Airtel mobile money to go public in 2025

Airtel Africa has announced plans to take its mobile money arm public in 2025 and expand its services to other countries in Africa, beyond the fourteen countries where it currently operates.

“We will list next year. We will continue to bring additional countries into the envelope. We are still a year from that IPO,” said Olusegun Ogunsanya, chief executive officer of Airtel. He, however, did not speak on the prospective stock exchange for the listing.

Airtel Money, Airtel Africa’s fastest-growing arm, has a potential valuation of about $4 billion. This IPO move follows a trend of investment in African mobile mobile money providers.

“We were the first to deploy ATMs, giving us a significant head start. Our network boasts 29,000 exclusive mobile money branches, with a well-established system. We have been effective in leveraging our infrastructure to our advantage,” Ogunsanya explained.

With a stronghold in Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, and Malawi, the company has employed its first-mover advantages, infrastructure, and distribution.

Airtel mobile money’s transaction value increased by 38.2 percent with an annual transaction value of over $112 billion. Mobile money customers grew 20 percent to 38 million, driven by a continued strong performance in East Africa and Francophone Africa in its full-year result for 2024.

SOURCE: BUSINESSDAY