Airtel Money Processes Nearly $200bn, Setting Stage For 2026 Itemizing

Airtel Money, the financial suppliers arm of Airtel Africa, has seen its annualised transaction value climb above $193 billion, a 35.9% year-on-year improve, as the company advances plans for a public itemizing inside the first half of 2026.

Based mostly on Airtel Africa’s latest half-year outcomes to September 2025, Airtel Money’s purchaser base climbed by 20% year-on-year to achieve 49.8 million prospects all through 14 worldwide places. The enlargement was pushed by an rising agent neighborhood, improved smartphone penetration, and an increasingly digital purchaser experience.

The company added better than 308,000 brokers and 56,000 activating outlets, whereas non-exclusive brokers grew by 27%, bettering attain in metropolis and rural areas. The bodily enlargement has been complemented by a rising demand for the MyAirtel app, Airtel Lite, and a rising presence on platforms like WhatsApp. 

Notably, nearly half of Airtel Money’s purchasers (48.5%) now use smartphones. The company opinions that smartphone prospects are inclined to transact further steadily and generate bigger widespread earnings per client (ARPU) than these on attribute telephones. Due to this, ARPU rose 11% in fastened international cash, whereas full mobile-money earnings grew 30% year-on-year.

Closing in on Africa’s fintech elite

With transaction volumes approaching $200 billion yearly, Airtel Money is now ranked amongst Africa’s excessive three mobile-money suppliers, alongside M-Pesa and MTN Mobile Money.

All through the continent, Airtel’s fintech unit has emerged as a extreme challenger to M-Pesa’s long-held dominance, notably in Kenya, the place its market share has jumped from 2.8% in 2023 to 9.1% in 2025, whereas M-Pesa’s share slipped to spherical 90%.

In full processed value, Airtel Money trails solely M-Pesa, which handled about $450.8 billion as at 2025, and MTN Mobile Money, which exceeded $200 billion in 2024–25. This effectivity alerts Airtel’s arrival as a pan-African fintech powerhouse, leveraging its telecom backbone and financial-inclusion approach to compete head-to-head with regional leaders.

Financial outcomes underpin enlargement

The strong growth of Airtel Money is contributing meaningfully to Airtel Africa’s basic financial effectivity. Group earnings rose 24.5% in fastened international cash inside the half-year ended September 2025, whereas EBITDA margins expanded to 49% in Q2 2026.

“Our approach has been centered on providing a superior purchaser experience, and the facility of these outcomes is testament to the initiatives we’ve been implementing all through the enterprise,” Airtel CEO Sunil Taldar said. “Airtel Money continues to attain momentum, with our purchaser base nearing 50 million and annualised full processed value approaching $200 billion, up over 35% year-on-year. The preparation for the IPO stays on observe for an inventory inside the first half of 2026.”

The company has moreover raised its capital-expenditure steering to between $875 million and $900 million for the current financial yr, as a result of it accelerates neighborhood investments to assist rising digital and financial inclusion.

IPO plans take kind

The deliberate Airtel Money IPO, first floated in 2021 following investments from TPG’s Rise Fund ($200 million) and Mastercard ($100 million), is now taking concrete sort. These early investments valued the enterprise at spherical $2.65 billion, nonetheless present growth has probably pushed its worth considerably bigger.

Analysts and interior projections counsel the IPO would possibly value Airtel Money at better than $4 billion, in all probability making it Africa’s biggest-ever fintech itemizing. The company targets to carry $2–3 billion to fund enlargement in digital banking, lending, and repair supplier suppliers.

Airtel Africa has engaged Citigroup as lead adviser for the itemizing and is considering London, the UAE, and completely different worldwide exchanges as potential venues. The IPO approach seeks to put Airtel Money as an unbiased, publicly traded fintech chief whereas unlocking shareholder value and providing capital for deeper innovation. To prepare, Airtel Africa has been consolidating fintech operations all through its 14 markets proper right into a unified development. Airtel Money’s path in direction of nearly $200 billion in annual processed transaction value shows important growth in client adoption and platform engagement all through Africa.