MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecommunications operator, is exploring banking licences in selected African markets as it considers using its own balance sheet to expand its lending business.
The company already operates one of Africa’s largest mobile money platforms, giving it access to millions of customers who move money through their digital wallets daily.
Ralph Mupita, Group Chief Executive Officer of MTN Group, said the telecoms company was assessing whether banking licences could allow it to take deposits and eventually use those funds to provide loans directly.
“We’re beginning to explore, where it makes sense and where there are large customer bases (and) significant floats in wallets, whether it may make sense to have some sort of banking licence that enables us to take deposits,” Mupita said.
MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) platform has more than 70 million customers across 16 markets.
The customers completed more than 23 billion transactions valued at over $500 billion, giving MTN a substantial financial services ecosystem across its markets.
The company has expanded its financial services offering beyond payments and transfers, with lending emerging as one of the fastest-growing areas of the business.
Loans facilitated through MTN’s BankTech operations reached $3.5 billion in 2025, representing an increase of more than 80 per cent from the previous year.
Ghana and Uganda were among the major markets contributing to the growth, while MTN has also expanded its lending products in Rwanda, Zambia, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville.
In Uganda, the company offers several credit products, including MoKash, MoPesa, MoSente, XtraCash and MoMo Advance.
However, MTN’s lending model has largely depended on partnerships with banks and other financial institutions.
Under the existing arrangement, financial institutions provide much of the capital, while MTN contributes its large customer base, distribution network and mobile wallet infrastructure.
The potential acquisition of banking licences could allow MTN to take greater control of the funding side of its lending operations in markets where the opportunity is sufficiently large.
The company could eventually accept deposits and lend from its own balance sheet, reducing its reliance on third-party funding while maintaining some existing partnerships.
“As such, we will then be lending over time off our own balance sheet. But also, it doesn’t mean we won’t do any partnership lending,” Mupita said.
MTN stressed that the move would not necessarily mean abandoning its existing banking partners. Instead, the company is considering a model that would allow it to combine its own balance-sheet lending with partnership-based products.
The potential shift reflects MTN’s broader strategy of expanding beyond traditional telecommunications into digital financial services, leveraging its large customer base and established mobile money infrastructure across Africa.
If implemented, the banking strategy could strengthen MTN’s position in Africa’s financial services market and give the company greater flexibility in expanding access to digital credit for its customers.
