MTN Bets on Fintech Veteran to Turn Around MoMo Payments

Telecom giant MTN has appointed Bode Abifarin, formerly of Flutterwave, as the new managing director and CEO of its MoMo Payment Service Bank (PSB) in Nigeria. This strategic move comes as MTN seeks to address persistent underperformance in its most crucial market.

Abifarin brings over 23 years of experience across financial services, consulting, and digital payments—including a significant tenure at Flutterwave where she helped scale operations across multiple African markets. Her appointment is effective September 1st.

The move follows a period of restructuring for MTN’s Nigerian fintech business. Recent financial reports revealed a NGN 62.56 billion (USD 46.7 million) impairment on fintech investments, with MoMo PSB cited as a loss-making unit. Independent valuations suggest the combined market value of these units is significantly below their carrying value.

While active wallets have shown some recovery from an earlier decline, reaching 5 million in the first half of 2026 (up 88.8% year-on-year), overall fintech revenue fell by 7.2% to NGN 77.2 billion (USD 57.6 million). This was partly due to a temporary suspension of MTN’s airtime lending service, which represents a significant portion of its fintech income in Nigeria.

Industry analysts note that telcos have generally struggled to compete with more agile fintech firms like OPay and Moniepoint in the Nigerian market—partly because payment service bank licenses restrict certain services that competitors offer freely.

MTN is now pursuing multiple strategic shifts: selling a 60% stake in MoMo PSB and Yello Digital Financial Services to MTN Group for NGN 152.06 billion; exploring structural separations to attract outside investment; and partnering with Ant International (Alipay’s global arm) to rebuild the MoMo platform as a super app.

The appointment of Abifarin, described by MTN leadership as possessing exceptional fintech expertise, signals the company’s commitment to transforming its mobile money business in Nigeria—a market that represents both significant opportunity and ongoing challenge.