Airtel Money across Africa: fees, countries and USSD codes
How much does Airtel Money cost, and which countries is it in? Airtel Money is Airtel Africa's mobile-money service across roughly 14 markets. Its signature versus Orange or MTN is levy VOLATILITY: the same wallet can cost sharply more from one budget year to the next because of government tax — Zambia's mobile-money levy jumped sharply on 1 January 2026 (up to about 3.75× by band). This hub pulls together the country-by-country fee grid, the USSD codes (which differ by country), the same-network vs cross-network gap, and a dedicated, dated levies ledger. Assembled from our seeded per-country data; sources attached.
Verified 2026-07-07 · sources: airtel.co.ug, airtel.co.zm, airtel.co.rw, airtel.mg, our seeded grilles; levies from the Zambian Parliament (Act 25/2024), URA and TRA; Airtel Africa FY2026
In which countries does Airtel Money work?
Airtel Africa runs mobile money in roughly 14 sub-Saharan markets (54.1m mobile-money customers, FY2026). One exception to know: in Nigeria the wallet trades as SmartCash Payment Service Bank — a licensed PSB, not a plain Airtel Money wallet. The mobile-money arm sits in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (~78% Bharti Airtel; minority stakes held by TPG, Qatar's QIA and Mastercard from 2021, at a $2.65bn valuation), with a group IPO of the unit targeted for H2 2026 (Bloomberg, April 2026 — no SoftBank stake, contrary to some reports). Where we hold no seeded fee grid for a market, the fee row says "to verify" rather than guess.
🇳🇬 Nigeria: In Nigeria, Airtel's wallet trades as SmartCash Payment Service Bank (a licensed PSB), not a plain Airtel Money wallet.
What are Airtel Money fees by country?
Airtel Money fees vary by country and by amount band. The table gives the headline per market — click a country for the tier-by-tier grid and its verification date. Airtel's own tariff pages are JavaScript apps that publish no machine-readable grid, so our seeded, dated per-country data is the source; where we hold none we say "to verify".
| Country | Send fee | Cash-out fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇬 Uganda UGX | Banded, UGX 100–1,200 | UGX 330–3,300 + 0.5% withdrawal tax | airtel.co.ug |
| 🇿🇲 Zambia ZMW | Free ≤K150, then K0.50–K5 + P2P levy | Banded, K2.50–K70 | airtel.co.zm |
| 🇰🇪 Kenya KES | Free to KES 100, then banded to KES 108 | Banded, KES 11–309 | airtel.co.ke |
| 🇹🇿 Tanzania TZS | Banded, TZS 30–680 | Banded + the 'tozo' levy | airtel.co.tz |
| 🇷🇼 Rwanda RWF | Banded, RWF 25–1,800 | Banded, RWF 60–3,600 | airtel.co.rw |
| 🇲🇬 Madagascar MGA | Banded, 100–3,000 Ar | Free to 1,000 Ar, then to 9,500 Ar | airtel.mg |
| 🇲🇼 Malawi MWK | To verify — see country page | Banded — see country page | airtel.mw |
| 🇨🇩 DR Congo CDF | To verify — see country page | To verify | airtel.cd |
| 🇹🇩 Chad XAF | To verify — see country page | To verify | airtel.td |
| 🇳🇪 Niger XOF | To verify — see country page | To verify | airtel.ne |
| 🇬🇦 Gabon XAF | To verify — see country page | To verify | airtel.ga |
| 🇨🇬 Congo-Brazzaville XAF | To verify — see country page | To verify | airtel.cg |
Assembled from our dated per-country Airtel Money grilles — click a country for the tier-by-tier detail and its verification date. "To verify" where no grid is published. Verified 2026-07-07.
What is the Airtel Money USSD code?
There is no single Airtel Money code — it differs by country, which is exactly what trips people up. Uganda is *185#, Rwanda *500#, Madagascar and Chad *436#, DR Congo *501#. Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Nigeria codes are shown where verified against the operator; where we could not confirm a code from Airtel's own site we leave it blank rather than guess.
| Country | USSD |
|---|---|
| 🇺🇬 Uganda | *185# |
| 🇿🇲 Zambia | *115# |
| 🇹🇿 Tanzania | *150*60# |
| 🇷🇼 Rwanda | *500# |
| 🇲🇬 Madagascar | *436# |
| 🇲🇼 Malawi | *211# |
| 🇨🇩 DR Congo | *501# |
| 🇹🇩 Chad | *436# |
| 🇳🇪 Niger | *436# |
| 🇬🇦 Gabon | *150# |
Can you send from one Airtel Money country to another?
Same-network vs cross-network: the fee gap
Airtel Money charges LESS to send to another Airtel user (on-net) than to another operator's wallet (off-net / cross-network) — the tariff sheets band the two separately. So a practical tip: if the amount is large and your recipient has an Airtel line, ask them to receive on Airtel to stay on-net. The cross-network premium is a real cost the headline fee hides. Confirm the on-net vs off-net band on your country's tariff sheet.
Source: airtel.co.ug / airtel.co.zm
Why the same Airtel Money costs differently by country
A big part of the country-to-country gap is government levy, not Airtel — and Airtel's markets are the most levy-volatile of the big three. Zambia's mobile-money levy jumped sharply on 1 January 2026 (up to about 3.75× by band); Uganda stacks a 0.5% withdrawal tax plus a 15% excise duty on the operator fee; Tanzania applies the 'tozo' electronic-transaction levy. These change by budget year, so we date every levy row. See the levies ledger for the primary-sourced detail.
Source: Zambian Parliament; URA; TRA
Frequently asked questions
How much does Airtel Money charge to withdraw?
It depends on the country and amount band. In Zambia, cash-out runs about K2.50 to K70 by band; in Uganda, the operator fee is banded and the government adds a 0.5% withdrawal tax on top; Madagascar is free up to 1,000 Ar then banded. Cash-out is where most of the cost sits — check the country row above and click through for the dated tier-by-tier detail.
What is the Airtel Money code in each country?
There is no single code — it differs by country: Uganda *185#, Zambia *115# (the old *778# is retired), Tanzania *150*60#, Malawi *211#, Rwanda *500#, DR Congo *501#, Niger, Chad and Madagascar *436#, Gabon *150#, and Nigeria's SmartCash PSB *939#. Kenya shows both *222# and *334# on Airtel's own channels — verify in-app. Where a code couldn't be confirmed we leave it blank. See the USSD table above.
Why does Airtel Money cost differently by country?
Largely government levy, not Airtel — and Airtel's markets are the most levy-volatile of the big three. Zambia's mobile-money levy jumped sharply on 1 January 2026 (up to about 3.75× by band); Uganda stacks a 0.5% withdrawal tax plus a 15% excise duty on the operator fee; Tanzania applies the 'tozo' electronic-transaction levy. Because levies change by budget year, we date every row — see the levies ledger.
Is it cheaper to send Airtel to Airtel?
Yes. Airtel Money charges less to send to another Airtel user (on-net) than to another operator's wallet (off-net). On a Zambia example the same-network send runs a fraction of the cross-network one. If the amount is large and your recipient has an Airtel line, ask them to receive on Airtel to stay on-net — the cross-network premium is a real cost the headline fee hides.