Airtel Africa Secures $200m for Mobile Money Investment

Airtel Africa Plc has announced that it has secured a $200m investment from Qatar Holding LLC.

This is in a bid to boost its mobile money arm.

According to a statement released by the company, the proceeds of the investment will be used to reduce its debt and invest in network and sales infrastructure across its operating countries.

The investment decision is coming three months after Mastercard invested $100m in the company’s mobile money business.

Qatar Holding LLC is an affiliate of the Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar with over $300bn in assets.

The Middle Eastern corporation is set to invest $200m into Airtel by buying secondary purchases of shares from Airtel Africa.

Mansoor Al-Mahmoud, chief executive officer, QIA, , said “The sovereign’s wealth fund investment in Airtel Africa would help promote financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Airtel Money plays a critical role in facilitating economic activity, including for customers without access to traditional financial services. We firmly believe in its mission to expand these efforts over the coming years.”

Raghunath Mandava, CEO, Airtel Africa, said the company was pleased to welcome QIA as a prospective investor in its mobile money business, joining both Mastercard and TPG’s The Rise Fund as a further partner “to help realise the full potential from the substantial opportunity to bank the unbanked across Africa.”