MTN Signals Acquisition Push in Fintech as Group Bets on Payments, Lending and Remittances
MTN Group has signalled a strong interest in acquiring fintech companies in payments, lending and remittances, as it seeks to accelerate the expansion of its financial services business, according to a report by Semafor.
MTN Group Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, said the company’s acquisition strategy is focused on long-term value creation rather than short-term dealmaking.
“This is not about buying things and flipping them. It’s about strengthening the platform. If an acquisition helps us grow faster, improve the customer experience, or bring new capabilities into the group, that’s what we’re interested in,” Mr Mupita said.
Across Africa, MTN’s fintech operations are anchored by its mobile money business, which operates in more than 10 countries. The platform enables customers to transfer funds domestically, pay merchants both online and offline, and increasingly conduct cross-border remittances.
Mobile money has become a core pillar of MTN’s diversification strategy as traditional voice revenues stagnate and competition in the data market intensifies.
However, the group’s fintech ambitions extend beyond digital wallets. In key markets such as Nigeria, MTN considers its airtime and data lending services a core fintech product. The service allows customers to borrow airtime or data and repay later.
In 2025, MTN generated more than ₦131 billion, equivalent to about US$87 million, from its airtime and data lending business, highlighting the segment’s growing contribution to group revenues.
While fintech remains the company’s primary acquisition focus, MTN has not ruled out investments in adjacent technology sectors. In 2022, the group repositioned itself from a traditional telecommunications operator into a technology platform company.
Since then, MTN has expanded into data centres, cloud services and enterprise technology solutions targeted at governments and large organisations.
Alongside acquisitions, the group is also adjusting its geographic expansion strategy. Rather than launching its full telecommunications and digital services stack in new markets, MTN is increasingly open to rolling out select offerings first.
This approach could see the group introduce fintech or digital financial services ahead of traditional telecom infrastructure, particularly in parts of East Africa.
The strategy reflects MTN’s growing confidence in fintech as a standalone growth engine, as rising mobile money adoption and accelerating demand for digital payments and remittances position the segment as a key driver of the group’s next phase of growth.
