Johannesburg – MTN Group is considering obtaining banking licences in selected African markets as the continent’s largest telecommunications operator seeks to expand its lending business and move closer to providing loans from its own balance sheet.
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said the company was assessing markets where its mobile-money operations have a sufficiently large customer base and significant funds held in digital wallets to justify obtaining banking licences.
“We’re beginning to explore, where it makes sense and where there are large customer bases (and) significant floats in wallets, whether it may make sense to have some sort of banking licence that enables us to take deposits,” Mupita told journalists, according to Reuters.
MTN is exploring banking licences in selected African markets as it looks to expand lending beyond partnerships with traditional banks.
The telecoms giant is also investing in AI-enabled data centres in South Africa and Nigeria.#MTN #Fintech #AfricaTech pic.twitter.com/dSwCeAopvL
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The potential move would mark a significant expansion of MTN’s financial-services operations, allowing the group eventually to use deposits to fund loans rather than relying primarily on partnerships with banks and other financial institutions.
“As such, we will then be lending over time off our own balance sheet. But also, it doesn’t mean we won’t do any partnership lending,” Mupita said.
MTN currently provides mobile-money loans largely through partnerships with banks, which supply the capital behind the loans. Business Insider Africa reported that the proposed licences could give MTN greater control over the lending process and allow it to move beyond payments and transfers into a broader financial-services business.
Lending becomes key growth area
The push comes as MTN’s fintech business becomes increasingly important to the group’s growth strategy.
Mupita said advanced services such as payments, e-commerce and lending were becoming increasingly important as MTN looks to reduce its dependence on traditional telecommunications revenue.
“We’re seeing good growth on advanced services, which are our future-proof services,” he said.
“The big growth now, which will be the growth of the future, is actually lending.”
According to Business Insider Africa, MTN’s Mobile Money, or MoMo, platform had about 70 million customers across 16 markets at the end of 2025. Customers completed more than 23 billion transactions during the year, with the combined value exceeding $500 billion.
The value of loans facilitated through MTN’s BankTech operations reached about $3.5 billion in 2025, representing an increase of more than 80% from the previous year, Business Insider Africa reported.
Ghana and Uganda have been among the strongest markets for MTN’s lending operations, with products such as MoMo Advance and other credit offerings helping drive growth. The company has also expanded lending services in Rwanda, Zambia, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville.
Finimize said a banking licence could allow MTN to treat funds held in customers’ mobile-money wallets as deposits and eventually lend against them directly. That could create an additional source of revenue through interest income, but would also expose the telecoms group to greater credit risk and banking-style regulatory requirements.
Selective and gradual expansion
MTN does not intend to pursue banking licences across all its African markets.
Mupita said the group would be selective and focus on countries where its mobile-money operations have enough scale to support the move. He also cautioned that any transition towards lending from MTN’s own balance sheet would be gradual because of the risks involved.
The move could increase MTN’s exposure to credit risk because the company would increasingly carry responsibility for loans that are currently financed by partner banks.
Finimize noted that the shift could change how investors view MTN’s fintech business, potentially moving it from a payments-focused operation based largely on transaction fees towards a financial-services business generating interest income. However, it would also subject the group to additional capital requirements, supervision and provisions for potential loan losses.
MTN already has experience operating within financial-services regulatory frameworks. In Nigeria, the company received approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2022 to operate MoMo Payment Service Bank, although that licence is more restricted than a conventional commercial banking licence.
Data centres another growth area
MTN’s push into financial services comes alongside plans to expand its digital infrastructure business.
The group is planning AI-enabled data centres in South Africa and Nigeria through Africa Data Hub Holding, a venture involving a UAE-backed investor. MTN will be a minority investor, while its partner is expected to provide most of the capital and technical expertise.
The first phase of the data-centre project is expected to target about 150 megawatts of capacity across the two countries, with further expansion dependent on demand, Reuters reported.
The developments form part of MTN’s broader strategy to diversify beyond traditional mobile and telecommunications services and build businesses around fintech, digital infrastructure and other technology-driven services.
The company reported service revenue of R115.3 billion for the first half of 2026, up 17.5% in constant-currency terms, with Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda among the markets driving growth.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
