Two telcos, $1-trillion and two very different fintech bets

MTN Group and Vodacom Group between them processed just over US$1-trillion in mobile money transactions across their most recent financial years – a milestone for Africa’s two largest telco-led fintech businesses, even as the JSE-listed operators pursue increasingly different paths to scale.

Vodacom outpaces MTN on a revenue basis. In the year to 31 March 2026, Vodacom’s consolidated financial services revenue climbed 19.6% year on year to R16.8-billion on a reported basis. Adding Safaricom – in which Vodacom holds a 34.94% effective interest – on a 100% basis lifts the group’s fintech footprint by a further R24.5-billion, to a R41.3-billion total.

Vodacom is in the middle of a contested move to deepen its Safaricom exposure. The planned sale by the Kenyan government of a 15% stake in Safaricom to Vodacom remains on hold after the high court in Nairobi this week extended a freeze on the deal, pending the outcome of a constitutional challenge.

By contrast, for the year ended 31 December 2025, MTN reported group fintech revenue of R30.3-billion, up 23.2% in constant currency terms. Fintech now contributes 13.1% of MTN’s service revenue, against 12.6% for Vodacom on a consolidated basis. The two companies’ financial year-ends are three months apart, so the comparisons are not exact like-for-like.

The two giants are even more closely matched on the transaction values processed through their respective platforms. MTN’s MoMo platform processed $500.3-billion in 2025, up 37.6% in constant currency. Vodacom and Safaricom together processed $525.6-billion, up 16.6%. Combined, the two operators moved just over $1-trillion in mobile money in their most recent financial years, highlighting the role mobile network operators now play in Africa’s financial system.

Diverging

However, That is where the parallels start to break down.

Vodacom counts 103 million financial services customers across the group, including Safaricom. MTN counts 69.5 million monthly active MoMo users, up from 63.1 million a year earlier. But Vodacom’s fintech operations span only eight markets – six wholly or majority owned, plus Safaricom’s Kenyan and Ethiopian operations – against MTN’s footprint of 16. Vodacom is making the bet that depth in fewer markets, anchored by Safaricom’s near-monopoly position in Kenya, beats breadth.

Read: Africa leads the world in stablecoin adoption

The product strategies are also diverging. MTN is increasingly building bank-tech as a standalone vertical: its lending platform served 9.6 million unique users in 2025, with $3.6-billion in loans disbursed, and the operator launched a virtual card in partnership with Mastercard.

Vodacom is layering higher-margin services onto M-Pesa rails. Its “beyond core” services – lending, savings and merchant offerings – now account for 46.4% of M-Pesa revenue across its international business, with R26.7-billion in loans facilitated during the year. Safaricom’s Kenyan merchant base grew 71.9% to 3.2 million.

Other players are positioning around the rails the two telcos have built. AI-enabled microlender Optasia, which listed on the JSE in November 2025 at a R23.5-billion valuation, uses mobile operators – including MTN and Vodacom – for distribution and customer access. It is a complementary play, not a competitive one, capturing value at a layer above the basic payments rail.

Stablecoins are a more direct potential alternative. A BVNK Stablecoin Utility Report compiled with YouGov, Coinbase and Artemis found that 95% of African respondents would like to receive payments in stablecoins, against a 77% global average – driven by demand for dollars and the limitations of formal banking channels on the continent.

Stablecoins

Three rand-pegged stablecoins have launched in South Africa in succession: ZARP, backed by Old Mutual; ZAR Supercoin from New York Stock Exchange-listed Super Group; and, most recently, Zaru, backed by Luno, EasyEquities, Lesaka Technologies and Sanlam.

For now, the telecoms operators remain a dominant rail. As MTN Group chairman Mcebisi Jonas put it in the company’s 2025 integrated report: “Our investment case remains compelling because the continent has a youthful demographic, is experiencing increasing digital adoption and connectivity is critical for economic growth and social stability.”

Read: Vodacom’s fintech machine tops 100 million customers

Whether MTN’s wide-footprint, vertical-stack approach or Vodacom’s Safaricom-anchored concentration delivers better long-term returns is the more interesting question – and the one that will shape who captures the next trillion dollars.  – © 2026 NewsCentral Media