MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecommunications operator, said on Tuesday it is exploring banking licences in select markets as part of a broader push to expand its lending business and grow its fintech operations.
Group Chief Executive Ralph Mupita told journalists that the company is examining whether a banking licence would allow it to accept customer deposits and eventually lend directly, particularly in markets with large subscriber bases and significant funds held in mobile money wallets. He said MTN currently extends credit mainly through partnerships with banks and other financial institutions but is considering a gradual shift toward balance-sheet lending in selected markets while retaining existing partnerships.
Mupita described lending as one of the fastest-growing segments within the group’s advanced services portfolio, which also includes payments and e-commerce, and said it represented a central pillar of MTN’s future growth strategy.
Separately, Mupita said MTN plans to develop artificial intelligence-enabled data centres in Nigeria and South Africa through Africa Data Hub Holding, a venture formed with an undisclosed, UAE-backed investor experienced in building data centre infrastructure across the Gulf region. MTN will hold a minority stake in the venture, with its partner providing the bulk of the capital and technical expertise, he said.
The initial phase of the project is expected to deliver around 150 megawatts of data centre capacity across the two countries, with further expansion contingent on demand, according to Mupita.
The moves come as MTN seeks to diversify beyond core telecommunications revenue and compete more directly with fast-growing digital lenders and payment platforms in some of its largest markets. MTN Nigeria, the group’s biggest market with more than 90 million active subscribers, already holds a mobile money payment service bank licence issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
