Airtel Africa plans London IPO for its mobile money unit as the platform reports 25.8% revenue growth and 56.5 million customers

Airtel Africa has revived plans to list its Airtel Money mobile payments business in London, with the planned IPO emerging alongside a strong set of first-quarter results for the period ended 30 June 2026. Group revenue rose 31% year-on-year in reported currency to US$1.85 billion, with constant currency growth of 21.1%. Mobile money revenue grew 25.8% in constant currency, outpacing the broader mobile services revenue increase of 19.1%. The Airtel Money platform's customer base expanded 23.3% to 56.5 million users, while annualised total processed value (TPV), the total value of payments routed through the platform in a year, surged 51.5% to more than US$245 billion. The overall subscriber base grew 11.6% to 189 million, with data customers rising 15.5% to 87.3 million. Capital expenditure increased sharply to US$389 million in the quarter, up from US$121 million in the same period a year earlier, reflecting a significant acceleration in network investment. A London listing for the mobile money business would provide a major test of the capital markets appetite for African fintech assets and a significant vote of confidence in the London Stock Exchange as a venue for emerging-market technology spin-offs at a time when the exchange is actively competing for high-growth listings. No timeline or deal size for the planned IPO has been confirmed in the sources.

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