Airtel Africa Revives the Airtel Money Listing for the Second Half of 2026

Airtel Africa has revived the Airtel Money listing for the second half of 2026 after an earlier delay, choosing London to broaden investor access as the platform’s customer base reached 56.5Mn.

• •The telecoms group confirmed the London Stock Exchange as its preferred listing venue alongside its results for the quarter ended June 2026.
• •Airtel initially planned to list the mobile money business in the first half of 2026 but postponed the transaction in May, citing unfavourable market conditions and volatility linked to geopolitical developments.
• •The listing could reportedly raise about US$1.5Bn and value Airtel Money at roughly US$10Bn, although Airtel has not confirmed either figure.

The company said London would give Airtel Money access to a broad international investor base and support efforts to unlock the long-term standalone value of one of Africa’s largest mobile financial services platforms.

Airtel has not officially disclosed the IPO’s offer size, valuation, exact listing date, percentage stake to be sold or whether the transaction will involve newly issued shares, a sale by existing shareholders, or both.

The Financial Times reported that Citi is leading work on the transaction, with additional investment banks being appointed. The listing could reportedly raise about $1.5Bn and value Airtel Money at roughly $10Bn, although Airtel has not confirmed either figure.

At that valuation, the flotation would rank among London’s largest new listings in recent years and provide a boost to a market that has struggled to attract major initial public offerings.

Airtel Money enters the process with expanding customers, transactions and revenue. Its customer base grew 23.3% to 56.5Mn in the June quarter, while revenue increased 38.9% to US$404Mn.

The platform processed transactions worth US$61.4Bn during the quarter, a 51.5% increase in reported currency, taking annualised total processed value above US$245Bn. Monthly processed value per customer rose 13.0% to US$371 as Airtel expanded payment use cases and increased engagement across its digital financial ecosystem.

Mobile money EBITDA increased 29.3% to US$198Mn, although the margin narrowed by 363 basis points to 49.1%. Management attributed the contraction mainly to revised intra-group agreements, which it said did not affect the consolidated Group margin.

East Africa remains Airtel Money’s largest market, with 41.7Mn customers and quarterly revenue of US$297Mn. The business also had 11.4Mn customers in Francophone Africa and 3.4Mn in Nigeria, where adoption is growing rapidly from a smaller base.

-Kenyan Wall Street