MTN Group is considering obtaining banking licences in selected African markets as the telecommunications giant seeks to expand its financial services business and potentially use its own balance sheet to lend directly to customers.
Ralph Mupita, MTN Group’s chief executive officer, disclosed the plan while speaking with journalists recently, saying the company was assessing markets where it has large customer bases and significant funds held in mobile money wallets.
According to Mupita, banking licences could allow MTN to accept deposits and, over time, provide loans directly to customers rather than relying entirely on banks and other financial institutions.
“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,” he said.
MTN currently offers lending products through partnerships with banks and other financial institutions. However, the group is considering a gradual shift towards balance-sheet lending in markets where the scale of its customer base and mobile money operations makes the model commercially viable.
Mupita stressed that the strategy would not be implemented across all of MTN’s markets. Instead, the company would evaluate individual countries based on factors including the size of its customer base and the volume of funds held in mobile money wallets.
He identified lending as one of the fastest-growing segments of MTN’s fintech operations, alongside payments and e-commerce.
“The big growth now, which will be the growth of the future, is actually lending,” Mupita said.
The proposed move would, however, expose MTN to additional credit and financial risks associated with lending from its own balance sheet. The group therefore intends to approach the expansion gradually while maintaining its existing partnerships with financial institutions.
The banking strategy is part of MTN’s broader push to diversify beyond traditional telecommunications services and build its fintech business around its large subscriber base and mobile money platforms.
MTN targets AI-ready data centres in Nigeria, South Africa
Separately, Mupita disclosed plans to develop artificial intelligence-ready data centres in Nigeria and South Africa through Africa Data Hub Holding, a venture established with an undisclosed UAE-backed investor.
The partnership is expected to develop data centre infrastructure across key African markets, with MTN taking a minority stake while its UAE-based partner provides most of the capital and technical expertise.
Mupita said the initial phase would target approximately 150 megawatts of data centre capacity across Nigeria and South Africa, with further expansion expected to depend on market demand.
The planned facilities are intended to support the growing demand for computing infrastructure driven by artificial intelligence and other digital services across the continent.
Africa’s limited data centre capacity remains a major constraint as demand for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital services continues to grow.
A 2026 paper by the International Monetary Fund, Unlocking the Potential: AI in Sub-Saharan Africa, estimated that sub-Saharan Africa has about 160 data centre facilities, accounting for roughly 5.5 per cent of global installations. Nearly half of these facilities are concentrated in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, reflecting the uneven distribution of digital infrastructure across the region.
The infrastructure shortfall is becoming increasingly important as AI adoption drives demand for greater computing capacity. Knight Frank has estimated that Africa could require between $10 billion and $20 billion in new data centre investment to meet rising demand, with the continent’s data centre market projected to expand significantly by 2030.
