MTN seeks more investors for MoMo

The MTN Group has stated that its fintech division, MoMo, seeks to bring on more investors.

This disclosure comes one day after the big agreement, in which payment processor Mastercard agreed to buy a small share in MoMo, was made public by the telecom giant. The current market value of MoMo is a staggering $5.2 billion.

CEO Ralph Mutipa provided insight into the corporation’s upcoming move regarding the deal when he remarked, “We are open to selling up to a maximum of 30% of the fintech business.”

He continued by saying that to achieve that goal, three to four investors would be required. Given that MTN already has Mastercard, three seems like a likely number.

Mupita also highlighted the importance of mobile money services to Africans.

“With mobile money and fintech services, you are able to leapfrog people from not having any financial services to using the phone to provide a lot of financial services,” he explained.

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MoMo currently serves over 46 million customers across 21 markets in both Africa and the Middle East.

Mastercard’s investment, alongside that of the other parties, could unlock many growth opportunities for MoMo.

Like Safaricom, Airtel, and other telcos, MTN has made significant investments in the digital payments sector. And for a good reason. Nowadays, phones can transfer funds, buy data, and carry out other basic functions. This means the ability to do the above seamlessly within one platform is in demand.

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Africa’s mobile phone penetration has rapidly grown in recent years thanks to a relatively young population. The fact that more people are using phones makes it necessary to build solutions that they can access through that medium. According to this report, Africa grew its mobile money market value to $44.9 billion and $836.5 billion in transaction value respectively.

Given these facts, it’s no surprise that many industry players are striving to bridge the gap between consumers and essential financial services. These players comprise traditional banks, fintechs, and telcos.