Airtel has announced plans to sell some stake in its mobile money platform Airtel Money in a bid to raise cash, months after its merger with Telkom Kenya collapsed.
In a market update, Airtel said it was also pursuing the sale of the remaining owned tower sites that sit across several countries that they operate in.
“We are actively pursuing the sale of the remaining owned tower sites that sit across several of our operating countries and the group is in discussions with various potential investors in relation to possible minority investments into Airtel Money,” said Airtel.
“Discussions are ongoing between the parties and there can be no certainty that a transaction will be concluded or as to the final terms of any transaction.”
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Airtel operates in 14 African countries with a customer base of 21.5 million as of December 2020.
“Mobile money average revenue per user (ARPU) was up 5.1 percent to $1.7 (Sh187), driven by the increase in transaction values and a higher contribution from merchant payments, cash out, person-to-person transfer and recharge of mobile services through Airtel Money,” said Airtel.
It is not yet clear how much the telco will mint from the sale.
In the nine months to December 2020, Airtel generated a revenue of $291 million (Ksh32 billion) from all its 14 African markets.
As of March 2020, Airtel held 1.13 percent of the mobile money subscribers in Kenya, a drop from 12.7 percent in March 2019.
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