30 July 2021: Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, today announces the signing of an agreement under which Qatar Holding LLC, an affiliate of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), will invest $200 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV), a subsidiary of Airtel Africa plc.
AMC BV is the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations and ultimately is intended to own and operate the mobile money businesses across all of Airtel Africa’s fourteen operating countries.
The Transaction values Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at $2.65 billion on a cash and debt-free basis. QIA will hold a minority stake in AMC BV upon completion of the Transaction (alongside other minority investors), with Airtel Africa continuing to hold the majority stake. The Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
Following the announcement on 18 March 2021 of a $200m investment in AMC BV by TPG’s The Rise Fund, on 1 April 2021 of a $100m investment in AMC BV by MasterCard and the sale of the Group’s telecommunication towers companies in Madagascar and Malawi on 23 March 2021, the Transaction is a continuation of the Group’s pursuit of strategic asset monetization and investment opportunities, and it is the aim of Airtel Africa to explore the potential listing of the mobile money business within four years.
The proceeds from the Transaction will be used to reduce Group debt and invest in network and sales infrastructure in the respective operating countries.
Airtel Africa mobile money services
Operating under the Airtel Money brand, Airtel Africa’s mobile money services is a leading digital mobile financial services platform catering to a large addressable market in Africa (characterised by limited access to formal financial institutions with limited banking infrastructure) and includes mobile wallet deposit and withdrawals, merchant and commercial payments, benefits transfers, loans and savings, virtual card and international money transfers.
Mobile money services are available across the Group’s 14 countries of operation, however, in Nigeria, the Group offers Airtel Money services through a partnership with a local bank and has applied for its own mobile banking licence. It is the intention that all mobile money operations will be owned and operated by AMC BV.
In our most recent reported results for Q1’22, the mobile money services (corresponding to all the businesses that are intended to be transferred to AMC BV) delivered a strong operational performance:
- Generated revenue of $124m ($496m annualised), and underlying EBITDA of $60m ($240m annualised) at a margin of 48.8%.
- Year on year revenue growth for the quarter was 53.7% in constant currency, largely driven by 24.6% growth in the customer base to 23.1 million, and 25.4% ARPU growth.
- Growth in transaction value was 64.4% (constant currency) to $14.7bn ($59bn annualised).
