MTN Group plans to enter the direct lending market across key African territories, including Nigeria, as the continent's largest telecommunications operator seeks regulatory approvals to expand its financial services portfolio beyond its current facilitation role.
The telecommunications giant aims to secure licences that would allow its fintech division to deploy its own balance sheet for direct customer lending. This represents a significant strategic shift from its current position as a loan facilitator through third-party partnerships.
"We have expanded access to credit for more people, but we also want to move further up the lending value chain," Serigne Dioum, MTN Group Fintech CEO, said at the company's capital market event on Wednesday. "Where appropriate, we will seek licences that allow us not only to facilitate loans but also to lend directly to customers and deploy our own balance sheet."
Massive Credit Gap Drives Expansion Strategy
The expansion targets Africa's severely underserved credit market, where formal lending access remains critically limited despite growing demand. According to a 2025 report by the National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC), nearly 80% of Nigerian Macro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) lack access to formal credit.
The challenge extends continent-wide. Dioum noted that only 4% to 5% of adults across Africa currently have access to formal credit, leaving a vast market largely untapped by traditional financial institutions.
Nigeria Central to Fintech Ambitions
Nigeria sits at the center of MTN's lending expansion plans, though the company declined to specify which particular licences it is pursuing. MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita confirmed the company is actively seeking additional regulatory approvals across multiple markets.
"We are pursuing additional licences that will allow us to offer a broader suite of financial products and services to customers," Mupita said. "Nigeria is a key market in this regard, but the opportunity extends across several of our markets."
Fintech Division Shows Strong Growth
The lending push builds on MTN's rapidly expanding fintech operations, which have become one of the group's fastest-growing divisions. In 2025, MTN Fintech generated approximately $2.8 billion in revenue and processed more than $500 billion in transaction value across its markets.
The division handled over 23 billion transactions in 2025, serving more than 70 million active mobile money users through a network of over 2 million merchants and 1.4 million agents across Africa.
Current Lending Operations
MTN already facilitates substantial credit access through partnerships across its markets. According to Dioum, more than one million people access loans through MTN's platforms daily, using funds to finance small businesses, purchase inventory, or cover urgent expenses such as healthcare costs.
The transition to direct lending would allow MTN to capture more value from this existing customer base while potentially offering more competitive rates and terms. The company estimates Africa's fintech revenue pool could expand as much as 13-fold over the next five years, presenting substantial growth opportunities.
This expansion aligns with broader trends in African telecommunications, where operators increasingly view financial services as key revenue drivers beyond traditional voice and data offerings. The success of mobile money platforms across the continent has demonstrated strong consumer appetite for telco-led financial services.