MTN Fintech Revenue Falls 7% Amid Tighter Lending Rules
- MTN’s fintech revenue dropped 7% in H1 2026 on lending suspension
- Total H1 revenue hit N3 trillion, but MTN insists this is revenue, not profit
- Data services alone brought in N1.7 trillion, with 55.6 million active users
- MTN to cut its mobile money stake to 40%, ceding 60% to MTN Group Fintech
- Energy costs surged up to 80% year-on-year, squeezing margins
MTN Nigeria has confirmed that its fintech revenue declined by seven per cent in the first half of 2026, a slide the company blames squarely on regulatory action that suspended its lending services for most of the review period.
The disclosure came from MTN Nigeria’s Chief Financial Officer, Modupe Kadri, during a briefing with journalists in Lagos, where he also moved to clarify how the N3 trillion the telco posted as H1 earnings should actually be read. According to Kadri, the figure represents total revenue generated across voice, data, digital solutions, enterprise services and fintech, and not profit, a distinction he said was necessary to help Nigerians properly understand MTN’s real contribution to the economy.
On the drop in MTN fintech revenue specifically, Kadri explained that the suspension of the company’s Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)-regulated lending operations was the main driver. To address the fallout, MTN Nigeria plans to reduce its stake in its mobile money unit to 40 per cent, transferring 60 per cent ownership to MTN Group Fintech. Kadri described the move as a deliberate capital allocation decision rather than a retreat from the fintech space.
Away from fintech, MTN’s data business told a different story. Kadri said data services alone generated close to N1.7 trillion of total revenue, powered by rising smartphone adoption and growing appetite for digital connectivity among the company’s more than 92 million subscribers. He noted that active data subscribers now stand at about 55.6 million, with average monthly consumption nearing 15 gigabytes per customer, a trend he linked to Nigeria’s youthful, digitally hungry population.
Kadri also touched on the tougher operating environment weighing on the telco’s books, citing energy costs that jumped between 50 and 80 per cent year-on-year, diesel prices up nearly 80 per cent, and rising transport fares. In response, MTN has renegotiated tower contracts and rolled out other cost-efficiency measures to protect service quality without letting expenses spiral further.
On infrastructure, Kadri revealed that MTN has poured over N1.6 trillion into capital expenditure since January 2025 to expand network capacity, though he acknowledged that service delivery is still frequently disrupted by fibre cuts, vandalism, and restricted access to network sites, issues largely outside the company’s control. He said MTN continues to work with industry stakeholders and security agencies to strengthen network resilience.
In a further sign of balance-sheet discipline, Kadri disclosed that MTN Nigeria has fully cleared all its foreign currency-denominated loans, wiping out forex-related debt and cutting finance costs. He rounded off the briefing with a call for sustainable competition in the telecoms sector, arguing that operators need room to meet their obligations while continuing to invest.
