MTN’s fintech business has gained momentum in the first half of 2026 as the group scales its financial services operations across African markets.
Fintech revenue has increased 13.3% in the constant currency during the period, while growth excluding regulatory items was 19.3%. Fintech transaction value increased 33.8% to $330.5 billion, while transaction volumes increased 17.2% to 13 billion.
At its Capital Markets Day, MTN outlined plans to scale the fintech operation and reposition it from a mobile money service into a fully-fledged digital financial ecosystem, with the group targeting an additional 50 million customers as per Vision 2030.
The strategy builds on the rapid expansion of the MoMo platform. The latest results show that the platform continues to expand reach, with active users increasing 12.1% to 70.8 million, while total fintech transaction volumes increased to 13 billion.
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Ralf Mupita, MTN group president and CEO, said the group is also taking steps to create greater value from fintech operations by separating it structurally from the wider group in other markets.
“We advanced a number of strategic initiatives, including the fintech separations and the IHS transaction, while launching Ambition 2030 to guide the next phase of MTN’s growth and value creation,” said Mupita.
“Within Fintech, we completed the structural separation in Ghana and progressed the required approvals in Nigeria and Uganda, while deepening our ecosystem through the strategic partnership with Ant International. These initiatives support our objective of unlocking value and accelerating growth in one of Africa’s leading fintech platforms,” he added.
The results show that the fintech business is not growing evenly across all its markets, with Nigeria weighing on performance.
MTN said the fintech ecosystem continued to scale despite temporary disruptions in Nigeria and Uganda. The group also said fintech service revenue growth is expected to remain below its medium-term guidance of high-20% to low-30% as it reintroduces airtime advance services in Nigeria.
The disruption is significant because Nigeria is one of MTN’s largest markets and has an important role in the group’s fintech growth. The temporary suspension of airtime advance services in the country affected the pace of growth, although MTN expects conditions to improve in the second half.
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Despite this drag, the group remains encouraged by the underlying performance of the fintech business, particularly its advanced services. MTN said advanced services grew 31.8% in constant currency, while transaction value increased 33.8% to $330.5 billion.
Fintech revenue reached R14.9 billion on a reported basis, up 1.4%, although this rose 13.3% in constant currency.
For the remainder of 2026, MTN has identified completing the fintech structural separations in key markets as one of its priorities, alongside sustaining commercial momentum across the group.
- MTN’s fintech business has gained momentum in the first half of 2026 as the group scales its financial services operations across African markets.
- Fintech revenue has increased 13.3% in the constant currency during the period, while growth excluding regulatory items was 19.3%.
- Fintech transaction value increased 33.8% to $330.5 billion, while transaction volumes increased 17.2% to 13 billion.
- At its Capital Markets Day, MTN outlined plans to scale the fintech operation and reposition it from a mobile money service into a fully-fledged digital financial ecosystem, with the group targeting an additional 50 million customers as per Vision 2030.
- The strategy builds on the rapid expansion of the MoMo platform.
