Airtel Africa contemplates IPO for mobile money unit amid significant revenue growth

Airtel Africa is currently contemplating taking its mobile money division, Airtel Money, public, with potential valuations exceeding $4 billion, according to a Bloomberg report. This development is still in the early stages of discussion and the company may eventually decide not to proceed with the initial public offering (IPO).

Despite Airtel Africa’s recorded plunge in profits in 2023 by almost 99% — amounting to a mere $2 million compared to the $523 million in 2022 — due to currency devaluation, its mobile money unit, Airtel Money, saw a significant rise in revenue by 31.8%.

Back in 2021, there were hints of a potential IPO for Airtel’s financial technology division after it received substantial investments from TPG, amounting to $200 million, and from Mastercard, accumulating $100 million. These investments valued the unit at $2.65 billion.

Presently, Airtel offers its mobile money services across 14 African countries. In Nigeria, it contends with MTN Momo, whereas in Kenya, it faces stiff competition from the mobile money behemoth, M-Pesa. In the previous year, Airtel was granted approval to raise the transaction limit to KES 500,000 ($3,400) up from the previous cap of KES 300,000 ($2,085).

The planned IPO for Airtel’s mobile money division aligns with the recent trend of investments in African mobile money providers. Notably, two years after its $100 million investment in Airtel Money, Mastercard secured a minor stake in MTN’s mobile money branch.