MTN Ghana launches AI-powered lending platform for small businesses

MTN Ghana on Tuesday unveiled Aholo Business, an AI-powered lending platform that uses mobile money transaction history, utility payment records and business registration data to provide working capital loans of up to GH¢100,000 to small and medium enterprises without requiring physical collateral.nnThe platform, developed in partnership with fintech company Jumo, analyses over 200 data signals to generate a creditworthiness score within ninety seconds and can disburse funds to the borrower’s MoMo wallet within three minutes of approval. Repayment is made in weekly or monthly instalments deducted automatically from the business’s MoMo float.nnMTN Ghana CEO Stephen Blewett said the platform addressed a fundamental gap in Ghana’s financial system. “Our analysis shows that over 600,000 SMEs in Ghana have never had access to formal credit despite running viable businesses for years. Their transaction data tells a story their bank statements cannot,” he said.nnInterest rates will range from 2.5 to 4.5 percent per month depending on the borrower’s risk score and loan tenure, which MTN acknowledged is higher than bank lending rates but significantly lower than the 15 to 20 percent monthly rates charged by informal lenders.nnThe Bank of Ghana confirmed that Aholo Business operates under a digital financial services licence and is subject to full central bank oversight including reporting requirements and interest rate disclosure rules.nnIn a pilot programme run from January to June 2026, 8,200 businesses in Accra and Kumasi borrowed a combined GH¢340 million through the platform with a repayment rate of 91 percent. The full national launch adds coverage to all five remaining regions.