(Bloomberg) --

MTN Group Ltd. is making progress toward separating the company’s financial-technology business and sell a portfolio of South African towers as the continent’s largest wireless carrier continues to slim down.

The finalizing of a plan to spin off the lucrative fintech unit, which includes mobile money, should be completed by the end of March 2022, Johannesburg-based MTN said in a statement on Wednesday. A sale and leaseback of South African telecom masts is slated for the third quarter of this year, with more than 20 responses received, the company said.

MTN is in the process of selling assets to realise value from its pan-African businesses. This has included the disposal of e-commerce units and the listing of country divisions on local stock exchanges. The latest of those was Rwanda, which listed in Kigali this week.

One area MTN wants to expand is Ethiopia, and the company led one of two consortiums bidding for new telecom licenses in the country. The group is awaiting a response from the Horn of Africa’s government.

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