Airtel Africa Receives $100 million Investment from MasterCard

Two week after TPG’s Rise Fund invested $200m in Airtel Africa, the company has announced that it will receive an extra $100m from global payments provider MasterCard. In a statement released, Airtel Africa and MasterCard have “extended commercial agreements and signed a new commercial framework which will deepen their partnerships across numerous geographies and areas including card issuance, payment gateway, payment processing, merchant acceptance and remittance solutions, amongst others”.

With Airtel Mobile Money currently the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations and targeting the large unbanked market across 14 African countries, and including mobile wallet deposit and withdrawals, merchant and commercial payments, benefits transfers, loans and savings, virtual credit card and international money transfers as part of its services, these deals makes the Airtel Africa’s intension to own and operate the mobile money a business across all of Airtel Africa’s fourteen operating countries even more feasible.

Along with the investment, Airtel Africa and MasterCard have extended commercial agreements and signed a new business framework to deepen their partnerships across numerous regions and countries and include services such card issuance, payment gateway, payment processing, merchant acceptance and remittance solutions, amongst others.

These deals also mean that TPG’s Rise Fund and MasterCard will own 7.55% and 3.775% respectively upon the completion of their deals. For MasterCard, the transaction will close in two phases — $75 million invested at first close (which will be finalized in the next four months), and $50 million to be invested at the second close.

Airtel Mobile Money business believes that selling off it minority shares to The Rise Fund, MasterCard and other investors; it can raise enough cash to monetize its mobile money business and pursue a possible listing in four years.