Airtel Africa to Sell Minority Stake in Airtel Money

Airtel Africa, the African subsidiary of India’s Bharti Airtel wants to sell a minority stake in its mobile services platform Airtel Money.

The company seeks to raise cash from the sale with this sale for the service that is available in 14 countries across the continent.

“We are continuing to look at strategic asset monetization and investment opportunities for the Group,” the company said.

Airtel Africa announced the news with the release of the company’s financial results for the nine-month period ended December 31st, 2020.

“We are actively pursuing the sale of the remaining owned tower sites that sit across several of our operating countries, and the Group is in discussions with various potential investors in relation to possible minority investments into Airtel Money.”

It’s not certain if the deal will close.

“Discussions are ongoing between the parties, and there can be no certainty that a transaction will be concluded or as to the final terms of any transaction,” it wrote in its financial report.

Airtel Money has over 20 million countries in Africa, including Kenya. The company’s financial results show it made $79 million from Airtel Money, an increase from the period prior, caused by a 32.3% increase in its mobile money customer base through the expansion of its distribution network — agents, kiosks, and Airtel Money branches.

Across available territories, Airtel Money’s customer base totaled 21.5 million. However, uptake is still low as this number only represents 18% of the total customers registered on Airtel.

In general, in the nine-month period ended December 31st, Airtel Africa’s revenue rose 13.8% to $2,870 million. The company now has 118.9 million customers across 14 African countries, up from 110 million reported during its 10th anniversary in June 2020.

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