Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.

MTN Group has announced plans to spin off its financial technology operations in key African countries within the first half of 2025 as part of strategies to allow Mastercard to acquire a minority stake in the unit.

The South African telecom company must operate its fintech arm in Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda as part of the process to complete the 2023 deal with Mastercard.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, disclosed this to Bloomberg on Monday, March 17, 2025.

Africa’s young population is increasingly using mobile phones to access services including banking.

The development has opened a lucrative and fast-growing opportunity in the fintech ecosystem for the telco.

MTN’s mobile money transactions rose 35% in constant currency terms to over $320 billion.

MTN operates the MoMo Payment Service Bank in Nigeria, with about 5.5 million users as of the second quarter of 2024.

Analysts say that the size of Mastercard’s stake could be as much as $200 million.

The exact details will be disclosed when the deal closes as the fintech is reportedly valued at $5.2 billion.

According to Mupita, the talks are in advanced stages in Uganda and Ghana, with Nigeria presenting slight regulatory hurdles.

The MTN boss said that the telecom firm is open to network-sharing collaboration in line with the trend in EU markets.

The MTN group declared a dividend of 3.45 rand per share for 2024, beating the 3.35 average analysts projected.

It also plans to pay a higher dividend of about 3.70 rand per share for the financial year.

Meanwhile, MTN Nigeria has unveiled plans to relocate its headquarters to Eko Atlantic City, a sprawling high-brow area off the Lagos coast.

The Company’s Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola disclosed this recently. 

The move places MTN Nigeria alongside major conglomerates, including First Bank, Shell, the Dangote Group, and others among the growing list of firms relocating to the plush city. 

Toriola disclosed this during the launch of MyLagosApp, a digital platform to streamline access to essential services in the city. 

He did not disclose the timeframe or the financials for the new project. This update comes four years after the telecom company first announced plans to build a new headquarters. 

MTN Nigeria is also developing the largest Tier 4 data centre in West Africa, located in Lagos.

The facility will have 1,500 racks and function as a carrier-neutral hub, enabling multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and cloud service providers to connect. 

Legit.ng earlier reported that MoMo PSB, or MoMo Payment Service Bank, has teamed up with Sochitel Group, a world pioneer in digital prepaid solutions.

Through this partnership the MoMo PSB Super App now offers the Global Duka Gift Card Service, allowing millions of users to easily make worldwide online purchases for gaming and entertainment packages.

Registered MoMo PSB customers can conveniently buy vouchers for well-known websites like Apple Play, Google Play, Netflix, Amazon, Xbox, and PlayStation by using the Global Duka Gift Card Service.

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Source: Legit.ng