Category: Spotlight stories
MTN will participate in MWC Barcelona 2026 from 2 to 5 March at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, joining global industry leaders, governments and investors as the sector shapes the next phase of digital infrastructure and services. Convened by the GSMA, MWC Barcelona 2026 marks the event’s 20th edition in Barcelona and remains the sector’s most influential gathering on connectivity and the digital economy.
For the first time at MWC Barcelona, MTN will exhibit from its own stand in Hall 4, providing a dedicated space for leadership engagement on the infrastructure, policy and partnership priorities shaping Africa’s digital and AI readiness.
With the event theme, “The IQ Era,” MWC Barcelona 2026 will spotlight AI-powered connectivity, next-generation networks and the systems that make digital transformation durable, secure and scalable. For Africa, AI readiness will be determined by fundamentals that can be built, financed and governed: resilient networks and supporting infrastructure, affordable access, relevant skills, and policy and regulatory certainty that supports long-term investment. MTN’s participation reflects its continued focus on strengthening these foundations through sustained network investment, expanding digital and financial services, and supporting partnerships that extend reach and reduce barriers to inclusion.
Leading the MTN delegation, Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita, in his capacity as Deputy Chair of the GSMA, will engage in high-level discussions on the enabling role of telecommunications in AI ecosystems. His participation in leadership engagements during the week will focus on the infrastructure and enabling frameworks required for responsible AI adoption at scale, particularly in emerging markets.
MTN’s broader executive team will contribute to specialised dialogues on priorities central to Africa’s digital future, including fintech innovation, digital trust and online safety, and the partnership models needed to accelerate coverage, strengthen resilience and build confidence in digital platforms.
MTN invites partners, investors, media and stakeholders attending MWC Barcelona 2026 to connect with the team in Hall 4 to engage on how Africa’s digital future is being built, and the practical collaboration required to ensure the AI era broadens opportunity rather than widening divides.
Nourishing Tomorrow: Innovations for Food, Energy, and Water Security
Across Africa, a new generation of eco-entrepreneurs is proving that innovation rooted in local realities can unlock continental transformation. Guided by the 2025 theme, “Nourishing Tomorrow: Innovations for Food, Energy, and Water Security, the 2025 Africa PachiPanda Challenge has once again illuminated the extraordinary potential of young Africans designing solutions local environmental challenges. By placing youth-led innovation at the centre of climate action, the Challenge contributes to building Africa’s green economy and accelerating inclusive, low-carbon growth.
Africa is the youngest continent in the world, yet its youth remain among the most vulnerable to climate shocks, unemployment and systemic inequality. At the same time, they are powerful agents of change – closest to the challenges, deeply invested in their communities, and uniquely positioned to shape sustainable solutions. MTN recognises that empowering young people is both a social imperative and a critical driver of long-term sustainability and resilience across the continent.
Designed to empower Africa’s next generation of environmental leaders, the Africa PachiPanda Challenge equips young eco-innovators aged 18–35 with the tools, mentorship and networks needed to scale climate-smart solutions. Through this initiative, MTN, together with World Wide Fund (WWF) and others, reinforces its commitment to supporting ideas that deliver lasting value for the environment and local communities. While Africa contributes the least to global greenhouse-gas emissions, it is disproportionately affected by climate change. MTN believes that those most impacted must be at the centre of designing solutions, and that digital connectivity, entrepreneurship and access to markets are critical enablers of a just and inclusive green transition.
The programme continues to grow in both reach and impact. Since its inception, the continental edition has expanded from Zambia, South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon in 2024 to now include Uganda in 2025, further strengthening regional collaboration and deepening its pan-African footprint. Applications have increased by approximately 35–40%, and the number of eco-entrepreneurs developed through structured training, mentorship and pitch preparation has almost doubled to more than 150 participants across participating markets.
For MTN, PachiPanda demonstrates how digital connectivity and targeted partnerships can strategically enable scalable green enterprises, strengthen local innovation ecosystems and deliver shared value across markets, while positioning MTN as a credible catalyst of Africa’s green economy and equipping youth innovators to attract capital, partnerships and policy-relevant exposure beyond the programme. The 2025 OpCo champions exemplify how creativity, technology and purpose can converge to solve pressing environmental challenges.
In Nigeria, OneGrid Energies is tackling pollution while expanding access to clean energy in underserved communities. By upcycling waste plastic bottles and used lithium-ion batteries into affordable lanterns, the innovation reduces environmental harm while meeting essential household lighting needs. This circular approach is strengthened by solar-powered charging stations operated by rural women, creating local energy hubs that combine environmental impact with economic empowerment.
In South Africa, CarbonSmart Solutions Africa, founded by Wendile Mpofu, is reimagining sustainable agriculture by helping smallholder farmers improve soil health while earning verified carbon credits. Using biochar and advanced digital monitoring tools supported by IoT technology, the enterprise enables transparent measurement of carbon sequestration. Its intuitive app gives farmers access to soil data, training and carbon market insights, creating an inclusive pathway for rural communities to benefit from global climate finance.
Uganda’s FarmGate Digital, led by Ruth Kyobutungi, is transforming food security through data-driven agriculture. The platform aggregates real farm-gate prices from local markets and provides predictive insights that help farmers plan when to harvest, store and sell their produce. By reducing income losses, preventing food spoilage and improving market transparency, FarmGate strengthens food systems while promoting more efficient and environmentally responsible agricultural practices.
In Zambia, McKingtorch Zambia, founded by Racheal Tembo, addresses the growing challenge of plastic pollution by converting waste into durable, eco-friendly products such as bags and slippers. Beyond reducing environmental hazards and waste-management backlogs, the enterprise creates green jobs and skills development opportunities, particularly for youth and women. Its work demonstrates how community-based recycling solutions can deliver both environmental protection and inclusive economic value.
Cameroon’s first-place PachiPanda champion strengthens this pan-African innovation narrative through a solution that links sustainability with education. nTron STEM Kit transforms plastic waste into 3D-printing filaments used to create hands-on STEM kits that introduce young people to electronics, robotics and practical problem solving. By combining waste reduction with skills development, the innovation diverts plastic from the environment while equipping the next generation to participate in Africa’s green and digital economy.
Crucially, the impact of the PachiPanda Challenge extends well beyond the finale. Alumni innovations have translated into tangible, real-world outcomes across food security, education, health and clean energy — preventing more than 120 tonnes of food waste through solar-powered cold-chain solutions, expanding digital learning access to over 15,000 underserved learners, improving women’s health through affordable menstrual-care ecosystems, and delivering clean energy and STEM skills through circular, e-waste-based models. Several innovators have progressed onto international platforms, including African Union-linked initiatives, unlocking further funding, mentorship and market access to scale their impact.
Together, these innovators demonstrate how youth-led entrepreneurship can power progress across Africa — supporting livelihoods, protecting ecosystems and building resilience in communities most exposed to climate risk. Their solutions reflect our belief that sustainable development is achieved by investing in people and purpose, and by enabling high-potential enterprises to transition from early-stage ideas into scalable, market-ready businesses.
As part of the 2025 edition, MTN has strengthened the post-competition value proposition to accelerate real-world impact. Finalists will participate in an enhanced, immersive Masterclass hosted in partnership with Deloitte on 9 February, focused on business readiness, governance, scaling strategies and investor engagement.
Winners will receive funding from MTN to support the next phase of their growth, complemented by structured post-competition mentoring from Deloitte. This extended support model reflects MTN’s commitment to moving beyond recognition alone, towards sustained enterprise development and long-term impact creation. Immediately after the finale, the 2025 finalists will participate in an immersive learning experience hosted by Wits Business School, offering a carefully curated programme that blends history, academia and culture. The experience will include guided engagements at the iconic Wits Planetarium, the Origins Centre, and Wits Business School, providing participants with a deeper appreciation of Africa’s intellectual heritage, scientific inquiry and leadership traditions
As we celebrate their national victories, we also look ahead as they prepare to compete at the Africa PachiPanda Challenge Finals, to be hosted at MTN Group Headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 10 February 2026. The Finals will mark not only the culmination of the 2025 Challenge, but a milestone in MTN’s broader effort to catalyse Africa’s green economy through youth-led innovation, partnerships and digital enablement.
Their journeys are a testament to the transformative power of youth-driven solutions and a reminder that Africa’s sustainable future will be shaped by those bold enough to build it, today.
MTN Group kicked off its annual Global Leadership Gathering (GLG) – themed “3 Platforms, One MTN” – convening more than 400 senior leaders from across the Group’s markets for a three-day leadership forum running from Monday, 2 February to Wednesday, 4 February 2026.
Hosted by Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita, and his Executive Team, the GLG brings together MTN’s senior leadership at a time of rapid change across the telecommunications and digital services sector. As customer expectations rise, regulatory requirements become more exacting and technology continues to reshape how services are delivered, sustained performance increasingly depends on clear leadership alignment, disciplined execution and consistent decision-making across diverse markets.
The GLG is a focused leadership forum that enables MTN’s most senior decision-makers to align on priorities, assess performance and reinforce the standards of leadership, accountability and execution required to deliver consistently across a complex operating environment.
“Our role is to enable Africa’s progress by connecting people, businesses and communities, and by extending digital and financial inclusion in the markets we serve. That responsibility demands leaders who work as one MTN in how we set priorities, make decisions and execute with discipline and consistency,” said Mupita. He noted that the gathering provides a critical opportunity for leaders to strengthen alignment on delivery priorities and leadership accountability across the Group.
Over the three days, leaders will engage in a structured programme of leadership dialogue, facilitated discussions and expert-led sessions. The agenda is designed to support rigorous conversation on customer experience, execution discipline and leadership effectiveness, with a focus on driving consistency and quality of delivery across MTN’s footprint.
Leadership effectiveness and culture form an integral part of the gathering. The GLG reinforces MTN’s Live Y’ello culture, which provides a shared foundation for leadership behaviour, decision-making and accountability across the Group. Anchored in MTN’s purpose and values, this cultural framework supports cohesive leadership practice and strengthens organisational capability across markets.
The programme also brings an outside-in perspective through a range of global and regional voices spanning geopolitics, digital transformation, leadership and technology. Their contributions are intended to challenge perspectives, deepen shared understanding of the external environment and sharpen leadership dialogue on performance, priorities and execution across the Group.
In a sector shaped by rising expectations and rapid change, MTN’s Global Leadership Gathering underscores the Group’s focus on leadership alignment, execution discipline and organisational readiness, strengthening the conditions for consistent delivery and long-term value creation across its markets.
MTN was privileged to support the Nigeria–South Africa Presidential Trade and Investment Breakfast Dialogue, convened by the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa on 21 November 2025, ahead of the G20 Summit.
Held under the theme “Driving Sustainable Investment, Innovation and Inclusive Trade,” the dialogue brought together ministers, governors, South African CEOs and investors to explore new ways of deepening collaboration between two of Africa’s most influential economies.
As a proudly African company, MTN recognises the importance of strong regional partnerships in strengthening the continent’s economic foundations. Nigeria and South Africa share a long-standing relationship that is central to advancing trade, investment and innovation across Africa.
In his welcome remarks, MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting efforts that strengthen economic cooperation.
“Strengthening the economic ties between Nigeria and South Africa is essential for boosting intra-African trade, attracting quality investment and accelerating industrial development,” he said.
“Infrastructure, both digital and physical, will continue to be the engine of this progress. Today’s engagement underscores our shared belief that by working together we can create an Africa that is more resilient, more competitive and better positioned to seize global opportunities.”
MTN’s support for the dialogue reflects its wider commitment to enabling Africa’s progress. Through our Ambition 2025 strategy and our ongoing work to drive digital and financial inclusion across the continent, we remain focused on enabling environments where businesses can thrive, investment can grow, and technology can accelerate development for millions.
Hon. Adebayo Olawale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, addressed the gathering and reaffirmed that Nigeria remains firmly open to investment. As he put it, “Nigeria is open for business, safe for investment.”
Sanyade Okoli, Special Adviser to the President on Finance and the Economy, highlighted Nigeria’s ambition to grow its GDP by 7% by 2027 and to expand employment opportunities across the country.
She noted that achieving this requires a coordinated focus on four key pillars: strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals, advancing sound governance and regulatory reforms, expanding critical infrastructure, and improving access to capital.
Her remarks underscored why platforms such as this dialogue are essential as they bring together the partners, investors and policy leaders needed to drive this collective progress.
The Investment session was addressed by the following Executive Governors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: H.E. Senator Uba Sani (Kaduna), H.E. Alh. Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), H.E. Engr. Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa); Senator Ademola Adeleke (Osun); H.E. Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau); H.E. Mohammed Umaru Bago (Niger); H.E. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah (Enugu); H.E. Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe); and H.E. Dikko Umar Radda (Katsina).
We look forward to continuing to support initiatives that strengthen regional cooperation and contribute meaningfully to Africa’s shared prosperity.
Partnerships – including between the public and private sector and across countries, with multinational organisations, suppliers and investors – are key to achieving sustainable growth in Africa. This is according to MTN Group, which was a key sponsor at CNN International’s first Global Perspectives event in London on Monday.
“We are getting to a space where, without partnership and working together – not only with our competitors, but also with other investors, with government, as well as even multilateral agencies and development fund providers – we are simply not going to be able to cover the next one billion people,” said MTN Group Vice President for Ghana and Southern and East Africa Ebenezer Asante.
He was talking about the one billion Africans who do not yet use the mobile internet and remain stuck in the voice era. The International Telecommunication Union estimates that in 2024, only 38% of Africa’s population was online, versus a global average of 68%.
By digitally including these people, and closing the usage gap, the GSMA estimates that an additional US$700 billion could be added to GDP in sub-Saharan Africa up to 2030.
“We require smart regulations,” Asante said, adding: “We require to bring the cost of deployment way lower than where it is today. That speaks to innovation, it speaks to partnership. We also require to build talent and skills.”
MTN Group is Africa’s largest mobile network, with more than 300 million subscribers. In the first half of 2025, it’s more than 63 million active Mobile Money (MoMo) users carried out more than 11 billion transactions valued at more than US$212 billion.
MTN Group Fintech CEO Serigne Dioum spoke about how fintech is enabling scalable, high-growth startup ecosystems across the continent by bridging funding gaps, formalising informal economies and catalysing a more inclusive digital marketplace across borders. He also underscored the importance of collaboration.
“Us and regulators, we have the same vision, the same objective. We want to drive financial inclusion, we want people to get more dignity,” he said as part of a panel discussion on fuelling the next-generation startup ecosystem, adding: “What is more important than financial inclusion, is for people to be independent financially.”
CNN International’s Global Perspectives: Africa event featured in-depth conversations and live interviews exploring innovation and sustainable growth, led by CNN’s journalists.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is potentially the most powerful tool for inclusive growth in Africa, but the continent is in a race against time and must act with urgency to overcome the risk of further inequality and the creation a digital underclass. This is according to the continent’s largest mobile operator MTN Group.
“We must be obsessed and paranoid about not being left behind,” MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita told The Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation (KMF) Inclusive Growth Forum over the weekend.
He said Africa’s path to inclusive AI required speedy action on six fronts.
Firstly, AI needs more abundant electricity supplies to drive economic growth. The IEA has estimated that Africa’s energy and climate-related goals by 2030 require annual investments of more than US$200 billion. The International Monetary Fund has said that all data centres combined use as much power as some of the world’s largest economies, and data centre power demand may triple by 2030.
As Africa has less than 2% of global data centre capacity, Mupita said it needs to invest heavily in digital infrastructure, beyond investment in fibre and subsea cables. The International Telecommunication Union has said that Africa needs around US$96 billion until 2030 to plug the digital infrastructure capex gap.
Thirdly, Africa needs to speed up the development of its own large language models (LLM) to power AI-driven solutions for its 1.5 billion people. There are more than 2 000 distinct African languages and Mupita said that fewer than 2% of them are supported by mainstream LLMs.
He was building on comments he made in New York in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, when he took up a call to action from Nigeria for MTN Group to support the collection of datasets of African languages, including funding academic research into the continent’s languages.
This followed the launch of the Nigerian Atlas for Languages & AI at Scale (N-ATLAS) – an open-source multilingual LLM designed to understand and generate Nigeria’s diverse voices and create datasets for AI solutions.
Mupita told the KMF gathering that Africa must act with urgency to develop strong digital and AI skills. “This is an opportunity to enable Africa’s rich pipeline of youth, which will make up the world’s largest workforce by 2050,” he said, adding that by 2030, there would be an estimated 230 million digital jobs in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We must ensure that new jobs and augmented jobs are greater than the jobs lost, particularly with the youth divided that Africa will have.”
Calling AI a tool to solve Africa’s unique challenges, particular in high impact sectors, Mupita said Africa needed to combine traditional AI and generative AI for the greatest value across key use cases in key sectors such as healthcare, education and agriculture.
Finally, he said if Africa was to turn its ambition into reality and create – not merely consume – AI, partnerships were essential. “To give African AI initiatives scale and joint success, governments, the private sector and civil society must partner on policy, data governance and skills development. And we must do this without delay.”
With only five years left to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the call for acceleration has never been more urgent. Progress remains uneven across the globe, and Africa in particular faces pressing challenges of inequality, youth unemployment and safety. It is against this backdrop that the UN Global Compact hosted its annual SDG Innovation Accelerator Programme during the United Nations General Assembly, showcasing bold business-led solutions that can help drive faster progress.
Representing South Africa, MTN’s graduate team won top honours and was selected as one of only two African teams to present their innovation at the UN Global Compact Leaders’ Summit in New York. Their project, an AI-powered solution to protect children online, responds directly to the alarming rise in digital harms, with child sexual abuse material increasing by more than 6000 percent globally and cyberbullying up by 450 percent. The solution is designed to shield children from predators, limit exposure to harmful content and reduce online bullying. It directly advances SDG 16.2 on ending abuse, exploitation and violence against children, while contributing to SDG 3 on health and well-being.
Dr Achieng Ojwang, Executive Director of UN Global Compact South Africa, stressed the importance of momentum. “The SDGs will not be met at the current pace, which is why programmes like the Accelerator are critical. They empower young professionals to create the type of bold, scalable solutions that can fast-track progress. The MTN graduates demonstrated that Africa is not only contributing but leading in tackling issues such as child online safety.”
The project was developed by graduates Lungelo Gwala, Senam Tsormetsri, Ziyanda Thomas and Koketso Kekana. As the youngest participants in the Accelerator, they exemplify the dedication and ingenuity of Africa’s youth. With the support of mentors including Asanda Nkungwana, MTN Group Sustainable Product Development Lead, Lazarus Mosako and Maanda Rashaka the UNGC Mentorship and Coaching team, the team transformed their concept into a viable solution with potential for large-scale impact.
Reflecting on their journey, Lungelo Gwala noted: “The Accelerator gave us the chance to show that African ideas can help accelerate progress on the SDGs. Representing South Africa at the UN reinforced that our generation has the power to shape a safer digital future.” Ziyanda Thomas added: “Being part of a global platform reminded me that Africa’s voice must not only be heard it must lead. YelloGuard may be a modest innovation today, but its potential to safeguard millions of children across the continent is profound.”
This recognition not only highlights MTN’s commitment to youth empowerment but also underlines Africa’s pivotal role in driving the acceleration needed to achieve the UNSDGs by 2030.
MTN Group has once again been recognised for its leadership in capital markets stakeholder engagement at the 2025 Extel Europe & Emerging EMEA Equities Awards, for executive teams. This survey, compiled independently by Extel, is among the most globally respected measures of corporate performance in Investor Relations, reflecting the feedback of a wide spectrum of institutional investors, analysts and broader capital markets stakeholders.
The 2025 survey for Emerging EMEA specifically drew responses from over 460 voters, nominating 608 individuals from 304 companies. Overall, respondents were up by 14% from last year, with votes weighted across a wide set of performance attributes. These measures included management credibility and leadership, capital allocation, productivity of investor engagements, quality of investor events, granularity of disclosures and ESG metrics; underscoring the robustness of the results as a reflection of market sentiment and perceptions.
Against this rigorous benchmark, MTN was excited to be named Best Corporate in Investor Relations and Best Team in Investor Relations, in the Large Cap EMEA-TMT sector, with the Group also ranked first in the Most Honoured Companies category.
MTN was further distinguished within its sector, ranking first with stakeholders in the EMEA-TMT across eight award categories: Best Company Board, Best CEO – Ralph Mupita, Best CFO – Tsholofelo Molefe, Best Investor Relations Professional – Thato Motlanthe, Best Investor Relations Team, Best Investor Relations Program, Best Investor/Analyst Event and Best ESG Program.
“The work to safeguard and enhance MTN’s reputation with our capital markets stakeholders is a major priority for us. We are humbled by this recognition and grateful to investors and analysts for their continued engagement,” said Tsholofelo Molefe, MTN Group Chief Financial Officer, adding: “These awards are a testament to the hard work of our Investor Relations team and the collaboration across MTN to ensure that we communicate openly, consistently and with integrity. We remain committed to strengthening trust through financial discipline, transparent reporting and constructive dialogue with all our stakeholders.”
“The scope and scale of the Extel survey make the recognition especially meaningful. It is shared with the colleagues across the organisation that we work with every day, and we are deeply appreciative of the confidence placed in MTN by the investment community,” said Thato Motlanthe, MTN Group Executive for Investor Relations. “We will continue to focus on providing clear and timely insights, while listening closely to the perspectives of our stakeholders, as we work to build enduring relationships that support MTN’s long-term success,” he added.
The recognition extends MTN’s consistent record in the Extel Europe & Emerging EMEA Equities Awards and reinforces its standing as a leading African multinational with a sustained reputation for effective capital markets engagement.
MTN Group has taken up a call to action from Nigeria to support the collection of datasets of African languages. These are required to develop the continent’s own large language models (LLM) to power AI-driven solutions for Africa’s 1.5 billion people, who otherwise risk being sidelined by the global AI ecosystem.
Speaking on ‘The Y’ello Chair Vodcast: Your link to the African continent’, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Dr Bosun Tijani said that to leapfrog AI in Africa, a collaborative public/private effort was urgently needed to fund the academic research into the continent’s many languages. He challenged MTN Group – which has operations in 16 markets, 15 of them in Africa – to mobilise resources for this.
“We like these kinds of partnerships. Challenge accepted,” said MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita in the vodcast, which was filmed on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York. It was hosted by Angela Wamola, who is the head of sub-Saharan Africa for the GSMA mobile industry association.
The vodcast followed the launch of the Nigerian Atlas for Languages & AI at Scale (N-ATLAS). This is an open-source multilingual LLM designed to understand and generate Nigeria’s diverse voices, digitising and preserving the country’s linguistic richness and creating datasets for AI solutions.
More than 500 languages are spoken in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country. N-ATLAS is a public/private initiative of the government of Nigeria and Awarri Technologies.
The ATLAS framework is open and available to other African countries, providing a platform for innovation in local languages and in so doing, transform education, health, commerce and governance.
“We have to avoid the risk of Africans being a digital underclass,” Mupita said of the work to ensure that citizens didn’t feel excluded on the continent where there are more than 2 000 languages and most are poorly represented in the global AI ecosystem.
He said the digital economy was the “best bet” to ensure that citizens have dignity, hope and opportunity.
“The outcomes we want are that people are digitally included, economically included and that they have dignity. This dignity point for me is very important because poverty can include all sorts of indignity, but embracing technology should take all that away,” he said.
The Y’ello Chair Vodcast is a platform where leaders and changemakers share insights, challenge norms, and drive Africa’s digital future. For episode 2, see here: https://youtu.be/wmTtjKs5teo?si=3GdEi6VS0tFLYSlT
MTN Group Fintech, Africa’s largest fintech platform, has concluded its inaugural Fintech Summit 2025 in Johannesburg, a landmark three-day gathering that brought together over 350 delegates including policymakers, regulators, innovators, and industry leaders from across the continent.
Under the theme “Take-Off”, the Summit underscored MTN Group Fintech’s vision of driving financial inclusion, supporting small businesses, enabling financial independence, and building digital ecosystems that power Africa’s economic growth.
From Transactions to Transformation
The Fintech Summit reaffirmed that mobile money is central to Africa’s financial inclusion journey. Today, 33% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa use mobile money, with annual transactions surpassing $1.1 trillion and contributing around 5% to the GDP. And with 283 million active accounts, MTN Group Fintech’s Mobile Money (MoMo from MTN) has grown from being one of the central tools for turning these payments into a fully-fledged catalyst for job creation, business growth, and economic resilience.
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) were a focal point of discussion. As the backbone of Africa’s economy, digitising MSMEs is key to unlocking credit, improving compliance, and driving wider economic participation. Real-world examples, such as Miriam, a small business owner using MoMo to manage payments, access loans, and expand her operations, illustrate how digital financial tools are empowering entrepreneurs and transforming livelihoods.
“Inclusion becomes sustainable when payments are part of daily life,” said Serigne Dioum, CEO of MTN Group Fintech. “Our ambition is to move Africans from being merely financially included to becoming financially independent and ultimately wealthy. Our Mobile Money platform must transform from being a service provider into a platform that delivers best-in-class fintech across Africa.”
Enabling Financial Independence
The Summit highlighted that financial independence goes beyond access to credit. It requires building digital skills, providing tools for savings and investment, and educating people on how to use financial services to create wealth. This vision aligns with MTN’s strategic roadmap to make MoMo a true partner in people’s financial journeys – from the unbanked in rural areas to SMEs in bustling cities.
“We see our responsibility not only as driving inclusion while ensuring the systems we build are trusted, resilient, and sustainable,” said Nikiwe Tanga, Chief Legal Officer, MTN Group Fintech. “This means advancing sound regulatory frameworks, strengthening partnerships with governments and banks, and embedding safety and compliance into every product we deliver.”
Regulation, Innovation, Safety, and Interoperability
A central outcome of the Summit was recognition that Africa’s fintech future depends on striking the right balance between regulation, innovation, safety, and interoperability.
Regulation: The need for harmonised regulatory frameworks across African markets was a recurring theme. Participants emphasised that fragmented rules hinder growth, while consistent standards can create a thriving environment for cross-border remittances, lending, and payment services. Regulators and industry players agreed on the importance of dialogue, transparency, and shared responsibility to build frameworks that encourage innovation while safeguarding users.
Innovation: Innovation must not only focus on designing solutions relevant to African realities. This includes alternative credit scoring powered by machine learning, AI-driven fraud detection, and the introduction of mini apps to help SMEs access tools for payments, credit, and business management. Innovation was also framed as an enabler of empowerment, giving individuals and businesses greater control of their financial futures.
Safety and Security: Trust remains the foundation of any financial ecosystem. Delegates stressed the need for best-in-class fraud prevention systems, including shared fraud intelligence networks, real-time monitoring, and consumer education. With digital financial services operating around the clock, safety measures must evolve at the same speed as emerging threats. Speakers highlighted that without trust, adoption stalls making security a top priority for MTN Group Fintech and its partners.
Interoperability: Perhaps the most urgent challenge is cross-border integration. Africa remains the most expensive region in the world for sending money due to fragmented currencies and systems. Greater interoperability within Africa as well as global payment networks is essential to reduce costs, expand access, and unlock the full potential of intra-African trade under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Partnerships between fintechs, banks, telcos, and regulators will be key to breaking down barriers and creating a truly connected African payments ecosystem.
MTN’s Strategic Vision 2030
Looking ahead, MTN Group Fintech is committed to creating seamless digital and financial solutions that empower individuals and businesses to thrive. Central to this ambition is a digital-first strategy that will see the rollout of three dedicated apps for consumers, businesses, and agents, with mini-app ecosystems offering services from credit and savings to business tools and education.
As smartphone penetration accelerates, MTN Group Fintech will balance innovation with inclusion, ensuring that USSD-based services continue to serve millions of customers, particularly in rural areas. Agents will remain critical in bridging the digital divide and supporting literacy and adoption as we realise our 2030 ambitions.
A Clear Call to Action
“The future is calling. The engines are ready. The runway is clear. We are ready for Take-Off,” concluded Serigne Dioum. “Let us rise together, share Africa’s digital future, and inspire the world.”
The MTN Group Fintech Summit 2025 has established itself as a cornerstone platform for Africa’s digital transformation journey. With a clear focus on financial inclusion, SME empowerment, regulatory alignment, and innovation, MoMo from MTN is shaping the future of fintech in Africa, delivering prosperity, independence, and opportunity for all.