MTN Values Mobile-Money Arm at $5 Billion, Considers IPO

  • Mastercard, TPG invested in rival Airtel unit at $2.65 billion
  • Safaricom biggest mobile-banking firm in sub-Saharan Africa

A vendor holds mobile phones at a Mobile Money stall in Kigali, Rwanda.

Photographer: Will Boase/Bloomberg

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MTN Group Ltd. values its mobile-money arm at about $5 billion and will consider a listing of the division, joining African wireless carriers trying to monetize a service that is particularly popular on the continent.

The move comes after Mastercard Inc. and TPG Holdings LP invested $300 million in Airtel Africa Plc’s mobile-money business at a $2.65 billion value.