Airtel Money IPO Set to Become Africa’s Biggest Fintech Listing As USD 4 B Listing Looms

In 2026, Airtel Africa will take one of its boldest steps yet: spinning off its mobile money arm, Airtel Money, in a public listing that could value the business at more than USD 4 B.

The planned listing, which has been in the works for several years, would mark a milestone for Airtel Africa’s diversification strategy as it looks to unlock value from one of its fastest-growing businesses.

Talk of an IPO first surfaced in March 2024, when reports indicated the company was exploring a public sale of shares in Airtel Money to raise about USD 4 B.

Momentum has since picked up. Fresh reports confirm that Airtel is pressing ahead with its IPO preparations and has already begun meeting investors. According to Bloomberg, company executives are in Dubai this week holding talks as part of the groundwork. At the same time, Airtel has appointed Wall Street heavyweight Citigroup as lead adviser to steer the process.

The offering is scheduled for the first half of 2026, with London, the United Arab Emirates, and other European markets under consideration as possible listing venues.

“We will list next year. We will continue to bring additional countries into the envelope. We are still a year from that IPO,” said Olusegun Ogunsanya, chief executive of Airtel Nigeria, confirming the spinout is firmly on track.

Airtel Money’s potential valuation of more than USD 4 B would likely make it the largest fintech listing in Africa to date, surpassing previous benchmarks. When Jumia, often called the “Amazon of Africa,” went public on the NYSE in 2019, its initial valuation was about USD 1.5 B.

While African fintechs such as Flutterwave, OPay, and Interswitch have crossed the USD 1 B unicorn mark in private funding rounds, with some exploring IPO conversations, none have yet attempted a public listing at the scale Airtel Money is targeting.

From Telecom to Fintech Star

The decision comes after years of rapid growth for Airtel Money, which now serves 45.8 million customers across 14 countries and processes around USD 162 B in annualized transactions. More striking than the scale, however, is its profitability. With a 48% net margin and revenues climbing to USD 731 B in 2024, up from USD 631 B the year before, the unit has outpaced Airtel’s traditional telecom services and become the group’s most profitable engine.

Meanwhile, the business has also attracted strong interest from international investors in recent years. In 2021, private equity firm TPG invested USD 200 M at a USD 2.65 B valuation. Mastercard added another USD 100 M, and later that year, an affiliate of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund took a stake. Those moves helped bankroll Airtel Money’s expansion while giving it the credibility needed to court institutional investors.

Now, with a potential IPO nearly doubling that earlier valuation, Airtel Money is no longer just a promising offshoot of Airtel Africa’s portfolio.

Africa’s Digital Payments Revolution

For a telecom operator once best known for selling voice and data services, the IPO would be a milestone in Airtel Africa’s strategy to shift beyond telecom services into financial technology, as mobile money adoption continues to expand rapidly across the continent.

Across the continent, fintech is exploding as millions of people leapfrog traditional banking and embrace mobile money. The continent’s young, mobile-first population is driving unprecedented demand for digital payments, lending, and savings platforms.

In Nigeria, Airtel’s launch of the SmartCash Payments Service Bank (PSB) in 2022 has received a warm reception, boosted by the Central Bank’s cashless push to reduce reliance on physical cash. In Kenya, the rise of services like M-Pesa has shown just how transformative mobile money can be, setting the stage for rivals like Airtel Money to grab market share.

Yet, with financial inclusion still lagging, over 350 million adults in sub-Saharan Africa remain unbanked; the upside for fintech players is enormous. This enormous addressable market provides a significant growth runway for Airtel Money, making its IPO a prime opportunity for investors looking to gain exposure to this sector.

A successful listing would unlock fresh capital for expansion, position Airtel Money as one of the continent’s leading digital financial platforms, and mark one of the largest African fintech IPOs in recent years.