MTN Group has announced plans to spin off its financial technology (fintech) businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda in the first half of 2025 as part of a broader reorganization. The move will allow Mastercard to acquire a minority stake in these fast-growing units, a deal that values MTN’s fintech arm at $5.2 billion.
MTN CEO Ralph Mupita revealed the plan in an interview, noting that while the separation process is more advanced in Uganda and Ghana, Nigeria presents additional regulatory hurdles. Despite these challenges, MTN remains committed to completing the restructuring across all three markets.
The spin-off is crucial to finalizing MTN’s agreement with Mastercard, which was first announced in 2023. The deal includes a strategic investment of up to $200 million by Mastercard and a commercial agreement to expand MTN’s payments and remittance services.
Beyond fintech, MTN is also exploring network-sharing agreements to optimize costs and improve service delivery, a strategy already adopted in European markets.
MTN, Africa’s largest telecom company by revenue, recently reported a full-year loss of 9.59 billion rand for 2024, exceeding market expectations. Despite this, the company declared a dividend of 3.45 rand per share and signaled plans to increase payouts to at least 3.70 rand per share in the current financial year, reflecting confidence in its long-term growth strategy.
