One year after its R23.5 billion ($1.4 billion) debut on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Africa’s biggest securities market, Optasia is growing faster than expected. But its biggest opportunity may lie beyond the airtime advances that built its business.
The pan-African-listed fintech generated $270 million in revenue in the first nine months of 2026, up 45% year on year, as it accelerated its shift towards microfinance. The business uses artificial intelligence (AI) and alternative data to extend credit to underserved consumers. It now wants more than 80% of its revenue to come from microfinance solutions.
Across the continent, millions earn money through informal businesses and gig work but remain excluded from conventional lending because they lack payslips, formal credit histories or assets to serve as collateral. Fintechs use mobile transaction histories, behavioural patterns and machine learning to assess these customers.
Optasia’s ambitions extend beyond consumer loans to merchant financing and working capital for small businesses. But widening access to credit also raises questions about affordability, responsible lending and over-indebtedness.
“The company started with airtime credit, and we did a fantastic job in that space. However, airtime credit is essentially a convenience product,” Salvador Anglada, its chief executive, told TechCabal in an interview on Thursday.
He said the company has shifted focus towards meeting the broader borrowing needs of consumers and small businesses overlooked by traditional lenders. Only 7% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa borrowed from mobile money providers in 2024, yet these providers accounted for nearly 60% of all formal borrowing in the region, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2025.
“Microfinance services represent a much broader opportunity. They reveal the extent of the demand among people who have never had access to financial services,” said Anglada.
Optasia built its business by allowing mobile subscribers to access airtime advances when they did not have enough money to top up their phones. Its platform has since evolved into a digital financial services business that enables telecommunications companies, banks and other partners to distribute credit.
Microfinance is now central to its growth strategy. In the first nine months of 2026, the segment contributed $194 million, about 72% of group revenue. Airtime credit contributed $75 million.
Anglada said demand came from consumers who need short-term financing and small businesses that struggle to secure conventional bank loans.
“Many small businesses cannot access financial services or loans because they lack the formal structures and documentation traditional lenders require,” he said. “We are building products to address these gaps.”
Anglada points to Pakistan as one of its strongest markets outside the continent, while Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and other West African markets are also recording increased demand.
Traditional lenders typically rely on payslips, credit histories, property ownership and other formal indicators to determine whether someone qualifies for a loan. These requirements can exclude people with irregular incomes who may still repay.
Optasia uses alternative data and machine learning to identify behavioural patterns to establish creditworthiness.
“What we do is identify what we call the signals of the market. These are signals that exist but are not necessarily formalised. We capture them through data and use them to develop features and identify patterns relating to individuals,” Anglada said.
He says the company has developed more than 100,000 features per person, selecting relevant combinations to build a picture of each customer’s behaviour and risk profile.
The objective, he explained, is not simply to determine whether someone qualifies for credit, but to establish how much they can borrow without defaulting and what they can realistically afford to repay.
Optasia’s expansion is taking place under public-market scrutiny. The company listed on the JSE in November 2025, in an initial public offering (IPO) that valued it at R23.5 billion ($1.4 billion).
Reflecting on its first year as a listed business, Anglada says its financial performance has exceeded expectations set at listing.
“Our first-half results in September showed growth of close to 60%. We have also issued a trading update this week covering the first nine months of the year, with revenue growth of approximately 45%,” he said.
He added that both growth and profitability were performing above the guidance provided at the time of the IPO.
Operating as a public company has also changed how Optasia manages its business. Anglada said it has strengthened its regulatory and compliance functions, introduced board committees, and expanded its investor relations capabilities.