MTN completes Ghana mobile money spinoff in major fintech push

MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecommunication company, has completed the separation of its mobile money business in Ghana, in a move to turn fintech into a standalone growth engine.

In a regulatory filing on Thursday, the telco said Scancom PLC, its Ghanaian subsidiary, has finalised the merger of its mobile money subsidiary, MobileMoney Ltd, with a newly created entity, MobileMoney Fintech Ltd (MMFL). The transaction became effective on March 31, 2026, after securing regulatory approvals.

The newly merged entity, MMFL, will now house MTN Ghana’s mobile money operations. It is jointly owned by MTN Dutch Holdings B.V. and the MTN Ghana Fintech Trust, which represents its non-group shareholders in Ghana, the company said. 

The restructuring does not change MTN Ghana’s shareholding or capital structure, nor does it affect its core telecoms operations.

The move reflects MTN’s push to turn fintech into a standalone growth engine, positioning the unit to raise capital, expand services including payments, lending, and broader digital financial services, and be valued separately from its telecoms business.

It also aligns with localisation requirements under the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987) in Ghana.

MTN has been repositioning fintech, particularly mobile money, as one of its core pillars. Sub-Saharan African mobile money transactions hit $1.4 trillion in 2025.  

Ghana is one of MTN’s most mature mobile money markets. MTN MoMo earned $549.15 million in revenue from Ghana in 2025. MTN’s Group fintech transaction volume rose by nearly 40% to $500.3 billion in 2025. Across its subsidiaries, the group disclosed that it has 69.5 million active customers.

Spinning of first in Ghana makes a logical test case for the group’s separation strategy, with work still ongoing in Nigeria and Uganda.

In March 2025, chief executive officer Ralph Mupita highlighted that the fintech spinoff was also part of the process to complete a deal it struck in 2023 with Mastercard. The size of Mastercard’s stake could be as much as $200 million, valuing the fintech unit at $5.2 billion.

In its 2025 year-end results, the group disclosed that MTN Uganda shareholders voted to approve the structural separation of MTN Mobile Money Limited from MTN Uganda in July 2025.

In Nigeria, the group noted that MTN Nigeria’s board of directors has approved the spinoff. However, it is still subject to shareholders’ approval and the receipt of all required regulatory approvals.

“In our fintech platform, we remain focused on scaling ecosystem growth amidst competitive and pricing disruptions. Our priority is to deepen penetration and engagement, with an eye on commercial monetisation,” Mupita said in the group 2025 results.