Why Airtel Money’s $7bn IPO doesn’t include its Nigerian fintech business

When Airtel Money lists on the London Stock Exchange later this month, it will do so without its struggling Nigerian fintech business. A Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive required the mobile money business to transfer its 25% stake in SmartCash, the vehicle through which Airtel operates its Nigerian fintech business, back to Airtel Networks Limited, its Nigerian telecom subsidiary, according to Airtel Money’s IPO prospectus.

The deal was completed for $3 million. But Airtel Money says it is exploring ways to bring SmartCash back into the group. However, the Nigerian business will not be part of the fintech company investors are buying when it lists on October 14.

“The Group is exploring options to bring Smartcash Nigeria within the Group’s perimeter, consistent with the structure of the Group’s other operations,” Airtel Money said in its IPO prospectus. “There can be no assurance as to the timing or outcome of these, which remain subject to regulatory approvals.”

The prospectus describes the group as a pan-African fintech platform operating in 13 African countries and serving approximately 53 million monthly active users as of June 30, 2026.

Airtel’s situation in Nigeria is part of a broader shift among Africa’s telecom companies increasingly trying to separate their fintech businesses from their core telecom operations. They see mobile money as a business that needs its own capital structures, management focus, growth strategies, and is valued separately from the telecom networks that helped create it.

In April, MTN Nigeria shareholders approved the separation of MoMo Payment Service Bank and Y’ello Digital Financial Services from MTN Nigeria into a new holding structure backed by MTN Group, subject to regulatory approval. MTN Group completed the separation of its mobile money business in Ghana in April.

The Nigerian PSB problem

Since the CBN introduced Payment Service Banks (PSBs) in 2018, telecom-led fintechs have struggled to turn their subscriber scale into financial services dominance because of licence restrictions and their late entry into an already developing market.

PSBs can accept deposits and facilitate payments, but lending is restricted, removing one of the most lucrative ways fintech companies monetise customers.

At the same time, companies such as OPay and PalmPay entered the market with products built around payments, credit and merchant services, and have built large distribution networks of their own.

Large telecom operators have struggled to turn their distribution advantage into fintech scale. MTN and Airtel have a combined 167.62 million subscribers, representing 86.02% of Nigeria’s telecom market, but their mobile money businesses have yet to reach 10 million subscribers combined. OPay, meanwhile, had 39.3 million monthly active users in 2025.

Nigeria’s mobile money market processed ₦20.71 trillion ($13.49 billion) in Q1 2025. By year-end, OPay alone reported a gross transaction value of $358 billion.

In 2025, MTN Nigeria chief executive officer Karl Toriola said the company initially expected MoMo PSB to reach about 20 million monthly active users, but revised those expectations because of competition from OPay and PalmPay, the maturity of cash-in and cash-out networks, and the limitations of the PSB licence.

“The MoMo PSB licence does have its limitations, and we need to look at add-ons to that licence to really evolve in that market to get to where we are,” Toriola said. “So, without a doubt, we are behind our initial excitement about the MoMo PSB, but we are well grounded in reality.”

Airtel has also acknowledged the competitiveness of the Nigerian market. “In Nigeria, it is a well-developed fintech market, compared to many other markets,” Sunil Taldar, Airtel Africa’s CEO, said in 2025.

Both operators are still doubling down on their mobile money businesses. SmartCash is pushing a zero-fee banking model and a 15% annual interest rate on savings deposits. It has also integrated with multiple banks and financial institutions, allowing wallet transfers and interbank transactions across its network as it tries to capture more of the transfer market.

MTN, meanwhile, is investing in more agents and merchants, deeper rural penetration, and expanding its digital payments capacity as it tries to increase transaction volumes.

Smartcash could still return

Airtel Money is about to become one of Africa’s biggest publicly listed fintech businesses. It has priced its London initial public offering at £1.96 ($2.59) per share, valuing the mobile money business at £5.3 billion ($7 billion) ahead of its October 14 debut.

Nigeria is Airtel Africa’s second-largest telecom region by subscribers and one of Africa’s biggest fintech markets. Yet it accounted for only 1.24% of Airtel mobile money’s $404 million quarterly revenue and 6.02% of its customer base as of June 2026.

That makes the Nigerian business a small part of the group being taken public, but a noticeable absence given the potential size of the Nigerian market.

Airtel’s fintech operations in Nigeria are currently conducted through Airtel Networks Limited, reflecting the CBN’s licencing requirements, under which mobile money and payment service bank licences must be held by an entity with the relevant telco licence and local regulatory oversight.

Airtel Networks holds the majority shareholding in SmartCash Nigeria, while a nominee shareholding within the group’s perimeter currently stands at below 0.01%.

“Notwithstanding that it sits outside the Group’s perimeter, the Group’s management team provides limited guidance and support to SmartCash Nigeria in respect of technical expertise and management services, reflecting the Group’s integrated approach to fintech operations across its African footprint,” Airtel Money said of its continued support for SmartCash in its prospectus.

The company said the support is not considered material to the group’s current operations, strategy or resource allocation.

For now, SmartCash remains outside Airtel Money’s group, even as the company explores ways to bring it back. Whether that changes Airtel’s fortunes in Nigeria will depend less on where SmartCash sits and more on whether it can turn its telecom scale into a fintech business capable of competing with the likes of OPay and PalmPay.

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