MTN Nigeria acquires stake in MoMo for N6.95bn

MTN Nigeria has bought the remaining shares from the minority shareholder in MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) for N6.95 billion. According to a corporate disclosure on the NGX website, MTN Nigeria has finalised the acquisition of the 7.17 percent stake previously held by Acxani Capital, making MoMo PSB a wholly owned subsidiary of MTN Nigeria.

MoMo PSB is MTN Nigeria’s fintech solution, which the CBN licensed in 2022. Initially, MTN Nigeria held an 80 percent stake in the company, while Acxani Capital owned 20 percent. Acxani Capital proposed selling their 20% stake in MoMo in May 2024, but their stake was ultimately diluted to 7.17 percent.

MTN Nigeria and Acxani Capital reached a N6.95 billion agreement for the 7.17% stake. The purchase led to an N12.97 billion decline in MTN’s “Other Reserves,” as the group spent N16.35 billion on the acquisition of the minority stake while it acquired assets worth N3.38 billion from Acxani Capital.

The N16.35 billion includes N6.95 billion paid to Acxani and N9.4 billion spent as investment on MoMo. At the end of the second quarter of 2024, it was reported that MoMo PSB’s active wallet hit 5.5 million, reflecting an increase of 701,000 from the first quarter.

In the first half of 2024, MoMo PSB recorded revenue of N48.6 billion, an 11 percent increase from the N43.6 billion revenue recorded in H1 2023. MoMo’s growth was driven mainly by Xtratime, the airtime lending service.

The company’s agents also increased by about 498,000 to 239,000 within the half-year, while transaction volume increased by 33.4 percent year-on-year within the half-year.

In H1 2024, the cash held for MoMo PSB customers declined by 72 percent to N2.15 billion, from N7.6 billion as of FYE 2023. As of H1 2024, the company had a liability of about N26.6 billion to MTN Nigeria, while it paid N11.2 billion to the group during the half-year.

Acxani Capital is owned by Munir Ja’afaru, a former director in the defunct NITEL as well as a prince in the Zazzau Emirate. He served as the former district head of Basawa in Zaria, and he once served as the chairman of the National Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) until 2004.