Global payments provider Mastercard invested millions of dollar in Airtel Africa. This is not the first time both companies were seen working together. Accordingly, both companies hope to bring the best result over the deal.
According to Tech Crunch‘s report, Airtel Africa will be receiving $100 million from Mastercard. Previously, both companies have been intertwined in a deal. The deal gave Airtel Africa’s 100 million subscribers in 14 nations to gain access to Mastercard’s global network back in 2019. The partnership, though, did not involve money exchange between the two parties.
In the future, Mastercard will hold 3.775% of the latter company’s stake. Mastercard will be finishing its deal in two tranches. The first close will involve a $75 million investment, which Mastercard expects to finalize within the next four months. Then, Mastercard will be adding a $50 million investment at the second close.
What to expect from Mastercard and Airtel Africa’s deal
Quoted from Tech Crunch, both companies revealed to 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.”
Additionally, Airtel Africa is expecting a lot from the deal involving Mastercard and other potential investors’. One of the hopes is for them to gain enough cash to raise that could further allow monetization of its mobile money business. Airtel Africa also mentioned that the company is pursuing a possible listing in four years. These efforts are in line with the company’s pursuit of strategic asset monetisation, investment opportunities, and, eventually, debt reduction.
CEO of Airtel Africa said, Raghunath Mandava, elaborated, “this is a continuation of our strategy to increase the minority shareholding in our mobile money business with the further intention to list this business within four years. “We are significantly strengthening our existing strategic relationship with Mastercard to help us realise the full potential from the substantial opportunity to improve financial inclusion across our countries of operation,” Mandava continued, as quoted from Tech Crunch.
Read also: Mastercard to Open Crypto Money Network
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