Airtel Money, the African mobile money platform recently listed on the London Stock Exchange, recorded $830 million in revenue for the six months ended September 30, 2026, as its customer base expanded to 56.7 million across the continent.

The company disclosed this on Monday, October 26, in its first financial results since becoming a publicly traded company earlier in the month.

Revenue increased by 25.1% year-on-year in constant currency, a measure that excludes the effects of exchange-rate fluctuations, while profit after tax rose to $228 million from $188 million in the corresponding period of 2025.

Airtel Money’s financial performance

The growth in revenue was supported by an expanding customer base, with the number of Airtel Money users increasing by 18.7% to 56.7 million.

This brought mobile money penetration within Airtel Africa’s telecommunications customer base to 42.9%, up 3.2 percentage points from the previous year, indicating that a growing proportion of its mobile subscribers now use the company’s financial services.

Existing customers also transacted at higher values. The average monthly transaction value per customer rose by 14.9% to $397, while average revenue per user increased by 5.1% in constant currency.

Beyond the growth in users and transaction values, Airtel Money recorded stronger demand for financial services outside its traditional mobile wallet business, which allows customers to store and manage money through their phones.

  • In the July–September quarter, revenue from payments and transfers grew by 32.8% in constant currency, while financial services revenue increased by 49.7%, outpacing the 25.0% growth recorded in wallet services.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Ian Basil Ferrao, identified its Francophone African markets, where mobile money adoption remains relatively lower, as particularly strong contributors to growth.

Airtel Money also declared an interim dividend of 6.4 US cents per share and maintained its financial guidance for the full year.

Meanwhile, the company’s shares gained 2.5% to trade at 184 pence in early trading on Monday, although they remained below the 196 pence offer price at which the company made its London market debut on October 9.

African fintech companies turn to international capital markets

Airtel Money’s London listing comes as other major African digital financial services providers pursue public-market funding or restructure their operations to attract investors.

Nigeria-focused fintech OPay is pursuing a similar path in the United States, having filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on October 9, 2026.

The company subsequently outlined plans to raise up to $366 million through the sale of approximately 16 million American Depositary Shares, potentially valuing the business at $4.42 billion.

The planned listing follows earlier discussions involving South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, which TechMedia Africa reported in August was considering acquiring a stake in OPay ahead of its market debut.

  • Those discussions have since progressed, with Standard Bank subsidiary Stanbic Africa Holdings agreeing to invest up to $200 million in OPay through a private placement linked to the proposed IPO, subject to the necessary conditions and approvals.

Meanwhile, telecommunications group MTN is taking a different approach by separating its mobile money businesses from its traditional telecoms operations.

The company completed the structural separation of its Ghanaian mobile money business on March 31, 2026, establishing MobileMoney Fintech Ltd as a standalone operating entity. It has also been progressing regulatory approvals for similar arrangements in Nigeria and Uganda.

The restructuring creates a clearer ownership and operating structure for MTN’s financial technology businesses, with the potential to accommodate strategic investors, including Mastercard, which already has an investment relationship with the group’s fintech operations.

Together, these developments illustrate how Africa’s largest mobile money and digital payments businesses are increasingly being positioned as independently valued financial services platforms, with access to strategic investment and, in some cases, international stock markets.