A payments company dubbed ‘Africa’s Revolut’ is planning the biggest listing on the UK stock market in years.

In a much-needed boost for the City, Airtel Money announced plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in London that could see it valued at between £6billion and £7billion.

That would be the largest UK listing since fintech Wise in 2021.

Airtel Money, which offers mobile payment services in 13 countries across Africa, is a subsidiary of FTSE 100 telecoms group Airtel Africa, whose shares have trebled in less than two years.

Airtel Africa is controlled by Bharti Airtel, the telecoms giant backed by Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises, which also owns a stake of close to 25 per cent in BT.

Airtel Money said it was ‘revolutionising digital financial services and enabling financial inclusion for millions’, prompting comparisons with British fintech Revolut.

Founded in 2011, it allows customers to load credit onto their mobile phones, withdraw cash from thousands of branches and small kiosks across Africa, and pay bills and send money.

The company said about 53million people used its services each month. 

It will be listed separately on the London Stock Exchange to Airtel Africa, which floated in the UK in 2019.

Ian Ferrao, Airtel Money’s chief executive, said: ‘A London listing will underpin our next wave of growth.

‘The opportunity ahead of us is substantial and, importantly, there are many demographic and digital tailwinds within the markets that we serve.

‘This listing will give us the platform to continue transforming financial services across Africa and to keep building value for our customers, our partners, African governments and our shareholders.’

Airtel Money wants to raise around $800million, or about £600million from the LSE float. 

This would give it a market capitalisation of between £6billion and £7billion, making it the largest flotation in London since fintech Wise in 2021.

Airtel Africa has a 77.9 per cent stake in Airtel Money. 

In another boost, British cyber security firm Chaleit Holdings announced plans to float on London’s junior Alternative Investment Market (AIM) next month amid hopes the sluggish IPO market is finally showing signs of life. 

Wealth manager Utmost Money and Spanish mining firm Abenojar Tungsten are also said to be considering floats in London this year. 

Airtel Money's decision to list on the LSE is significant amid a dearth of big-value LSE floats. 

The LSE has also seen businesses quit London for locations like New York or Hong Kong.   

This week it emerged that roadside assistance firm RAC had put the brakes on a £5billion London initial public offering in favour of a private sale. 

Software group Visma has also pushed back plans for a London float that could have valued the firm at over £15billion. 

Seven companies have listed in London so far this year, raising a combined £577million. 

A hefty chunk of this figure came from the £511million raised by the flotation of Uzbekistan's national investment fund.

Neil Wilson, an investor strategist at Saxo UK, said: 'It's clearly a big positive for the London market. Lately it's been like a car boot sale with just crumbs of secondary placements and small capital raisings.' 

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: 'The listing has been a long time coming, with plenty of hiccups on the way, and the geopolitical situation increasing volatility on the markets won't have helped. 

'Airtel Africa had to make this deal work given that minority investors in the mobile money business, including Mastercard, put options dating back to 2021 on the investment, giving them the right to force Airtel Africa to buy back their stakes, at a cost currently put at around $515million, if the listing didn't happen.'

She added: 'This will help cement London's reputation as a big fintech centre of excellence, able to create the right base for start-ups and spin-offs to take big steps into a listed future. 

'It bodes well for fledgling newcomers and scale-ups.'