Dubai-founded Optasia plans to list its shares on the JSE through a R6.3bn initial public offering (IPO), the largest such flotation of a fintech group on the local exchange that tests investor demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-driven airtime lending across dozens of markets.
Optasia describes itself as “an AI-enabled fintech platform that provides micro financing solutions and airtime credit solutions”. In essence, the company is in the business of microlending across various platforms.
Optasia said on Wednesday it planned a primary issuance of $75m (about R1.3bn) “to support growth, both organically and through future potential acquisitions”. The group is also planning a secondary share sale from existing shareholders of at least $300m (R5bn) by way of a private placement to qualified investors.
If the market pays up, JSE investors will have a live benchmark for fintech economics across multiple emerging markets, which Lesaka Technologies cannot fully replicate on its own because it is primarily focused on Southern Africa.
A hot flotation might trigger rerating across telecom operators such as MTN and Vodacom, which may face investor pressure to decide whether to farm out their fintech units to the market or fortify them inside their core business.
Founded in December 2012, Optasia has developed a network of distribution partners, including mobile network operators and financial institutions. It has access to more than 860-million mobile subscribers.
By end-June, Optasia operated through a network of 49 distribution partners and 13 financial institutions.
The group is behind the airtime lending businesses of mobile operators Vodacom and MTN. It also lists India’s Airtel, Pakistan’s Jazz and Indonesia’s Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison as mobile networks that are part of its partner network.
In addition, the group partners with 13 financial institutions.
“Today marks an important milestone for Optasia as we take a crucial step towards becoming a publicly listed company. From a single-country operation to one of the world’s largest fintechs of its kind, we’ve built a profitable, capital-light business that continues with purpose to scale,” Optasia CEO Salvador Anglada said.
“For more than a decade, we have been dedicated to enabling financial inclusion across emerging markets, leveraging our AI-powered platform to provide vital access to credit and financial services for millions of underserved customers.
“An IPO will allow us to accelerate our growth, raise our visibility as a leading global fintech and continue innovating to expand financial opportunity where it is needed most. We are proud of the progress we’ve made and excited for the opportunities ahead as we embark on this next chapter,” he said.
For the six months to end-June, the group generated revenue of $117.2m, up 90.3% from the previous comparable period. It reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) of $53.8m, an increase of 91.3% year on year.
Airtime advance has become a big contributor to revenue from SA financial services for mobile providers.
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For Vodacom, in the year to end-March, airtime advances was one of the top three lines of business driving its fintech growth in SA. Across its operations, the group said it facilitated 1.7-billion airtime advances. For the company, the microloans translate to about half of the total prepaid recharges in SA.
SA’s largest mobile provider tends to advance small amounts of airtime to customers with little to no credit balance, repayable when customers recharge accounts. This tends to be R10 or R20 per advance for prepaid customers.
The company also offers Auto Advanced Airtime, the limit of which depends on how much a specific customer qualifies for based on their affordability profile and spending patterns.
Over the same period, Telkom reported its airtime lending segment “remained a significant revenue driver” accounting for 31.1% of total prepaid recharges. About 11.8-million unique customers used this service. At the time, Telkom had 21-million customers, meaning 56% of the base used the service.
MTN is less forthcoming with details of its airtime lending business, but notes it as a growth driver in its largest market, Nigeria.
Update: October 8 2025
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