FINTECH AFRICA | MasterCard Acquires $200 Million Stake in MTN Fintech Business at $5.2 Billion Valuation

MasterCard has finalized a definitive agreement with MTN involving a minority investment of up to $200 million in MTN Group Fintech. This investment values MTN Group Fintech at $5.2 billion on a cash and debt-free basis.

MTN has not disclosed the exact stake Mastercard will acquire through its investment in MTN Group Fintech. However, the transaction was executed at a valuation of $5.2 billion on a cash and debt-free basis. The completion of the deal is contingent upon customary closing conditions.

“These agreements complement the larger commercial relationship between the Group and MasterCard to support the continued development and growth of technology and infrastructure to drive financial inclusion across the African continent,” MTN said in a statement.

“This commercial relationship is a key enabler for the acceleration of our fintech business’ payments and remittance services.”

The operator added the agreement was a complement to a larger relationship between it and Mastercard, to continue the support and development of financial inclusion in Africa.

The transaction arrives as MTN Group expands its fintech operations, positioning itself for the impending spin-off of the financial services company.

In 2022, as reported by BitKE, there was much conversation about the biggest fintech service on the continent, sparked by MTN announcing that its MTN mobile money unit had amassed 56.8 million users. Safaricom later announced it had amassed 51.7 million M-PESA users on the continent.

MTN’s growth was considered impressive since its mobile money service is only 2 years old compared to Safaricom’s M-PESA mobile money service which has been in existence for 15 years.

Two years later the two telcos, Safaricom and MPESA, are continuing with moves to spin off their mobile money services units as they take on digital-native fintech players.

In 2021, MasterCard also made a significant investment of $100 million in the mobile money business of Airtel Africa, which is a competitor to both MTN and Safaricom. The investment valued Airtel Africa’s mobile money unit at more than US$2.6 billion at that time.