MTN Group, Africa’s largest telecom operator, is expanding deeper into digital financial services through a new partnership that will take Nigerian-built fintech infrastructure into more African markets.

The agreement reflects how telecom companies are becoming increasingly important to Africa’s financial system as millions of consumers continue to rely on mobile phones rather than traditional banks for payments, savings and credit services.

For MTN, the partnership strengthens its Mobile Money business at a time when competition in Africa’s fintech sector is growing rapidly.

The company is working with GWCU, a financial infrastructure platform developed in Nigeria, to roll out a mobile-based credit system across parts of its network.

The rollout will begin in Liberia through MTN Liberia, where the platform is expected to reach about one million users before expanding to more than two million subscribers across Africa.

The expansion is being led by Nigerian-Canadian entrepreneur Fadesola Adedayo, a director at GWCU.

*MTN deal takes Nigerian fintech infrastructure across Africa*

Nigerian-built technology moves across Africa

The partnership also points to a growing trend in Africa’s fintech industry, where products developed in Nigeria are increasingly being adapted for use in other emerging markets.

Nigeria’s financial system, often marked by uneven infrastructure and limited consumer data, has forced local firms to build products capable of operating under difficult conditions.

GWCU said its platform was designed to function despite irregular remittance cycles, limited credit records and complex payroll systems that can make lending difficult for traditional financial institutions.

According to the company, those conditions helped shape a system capable of making real-time credit decisions using alternative consumer data.

Adedayo said the experience of building in Nigeria helped prepare the platform for wider African markets.

“If a system works in Nigeria, it has already been tested under real conditions,” he said. “We believe technology developed here can support financial access across other parts of Africa.”

*Nigeria-built fintech is increasingly being adopted across emerging African markets*

Mobile money drives financial inclusion

Rather than operating only as a lender, GWCU said the partnership places its technology directly within MTN’s Mobile Money network.

The system allows users to access digital loans, make automated repayments through mobile wallets and undergo credit assessments using telecom activity such as airtime purchases and transaction history.

The model is expected to help expand access to credit for consumers who have little or no formal banking history.

Across many African countries, mobile money platforms are increasingly becoming the main gateway to financial services, particularly for people outside the traditional banking system.

For MTN, the agreement adds another layer to its broader financial services business as telecom operators continue to compete for a larger share of Africa’s growing digital payments and mobile banking market.