Airtel Africa’s mobile money business receives $200m from QIA
Airtel Africa’s mobile money business, Airtel Mobile Commerce (AMC), has secured $200 million of investment from Qatar Holding.
Airtel operates across Africa
Qatar Holding is a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which will grab a minority stake in AMC.
Airtel Africa’s mobile money services are branded as a “leading digital mobile financial services platform”.
It offers mobile wallet deposits and withdrawals, merchant and commercial payments, benefits transfers, loans, and savings.
The group has seen a 64.4% year-on-year growth in transaction volume and a 24.6% increase in its customer base to 23.1 million.
Last year it signed partnerships with Mastercard, Samsung, Asante, Standard Chartered Bank, MoneyGram, Mukuru, and WorldRemit.
QIA’s transaction is closing in two stages. $150 million is invested at first close, with a further $50 million injected once “certain contracts” have been completed.
“Airtel Money plays a critical role in facilitating economic activity, including for customers without access to traditional financial services,” says Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO of QIA.
“We firmly believe in its mission to expand these efforts over the coming years.”
