Optasia: A Fintech Engine Driving Financial Inclusion

What happens when data meets demand in emerging markets? You get fintech firepower like Optasia. So if you’re curious about what makes Optasia so uniquely positioned, what’s behind their booming numbers, or what their IPO could mean, read on. More from EasyAssetManagement.

Fintech Engine Driving Financial Inclusion 

Optasia is a Dubai-headquartered fintech company that uses large-scale analytics and artificial intelligence to unlock access to financial services for millions of consumers across emerging markets. Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Bassim Haidar, the business works hand in hand with partners to enable microloans and airtime advances for millions of clients.

Its platform integrates directly with mobile operators and mobile wallet providers, analysing customer data in real time to determine credit eligibility and approve instant loans and airtime advances.

Optasia acts as the analytical backbone for its partners, providing credit scoring, disbursement, and collection infrastructure that allows users to access financial products in seconds. This model has enabled Optasia to scale rapidly, monetising each transaction through shared fees and service income.  

Over the past few years, the company has undergone a decisive transformation, expanding beyond its Airtime Credit Services (ACS) business into the broader Micro-Financing Solutions (MFS) segment, and it is this shift is now driving Optasia’s growth story. Airtime advances remain a steady contributor, but MFS has become the engine of profitability. Despite small per-transaction margins, the platform’s massive volume at over 32 million loans per day delivers significant scale.

In FY2024, Optasia generated $151.2 million in revenue on roughly $3.8 billion in distributed value, while HY2025 revenue reached $117.2 million off a distributed value roughly $2.4 billion. As of HY2025, the Micro-Financing Solutions segment contributed around 62% of total revenue, with an average ticket size of $5, a 30-day duration, and a take rate of 8%.

Airtime Credit Services accounted for approximately 37%, with tickets sizes averaging $0.25, typically repaid within seven days, and earning a 3% take rate. Across both segments, the blended default rate remains low at roughly 1.14%, underscoring the resilience of Optasia’s high-volume model.

Today, Optasia’s footprint spans 38 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. What was previously a concentrated business, with Nigeria once accounting for almost 50% of revenue, has evolved into a globally diversified platform, with no single geography contributing more than 19%. Nigeria’s share has is currently ~13.5%, while new markets are driving incremental momentum. 

 This geographical breadth has become a competitive strength, giving Optasia exposure to multiple fast-growing economies while naturally insulating it from single-currency shocks, such as those experienced with the Nigerian naira. The company’s integration with major partners, including MTN, Vodafone, Airtel etc. provides unmatched distribution reach, while its embedded technology has created a powerful data-driven flywheel. 

 Every transaction increases Optasia’s datasets, which in turn likley improves the accuracy of its credit models and reduces defaults.

Additionally, scale supports repeat borrowing, which enables larger loans with lower risk. This feedback loop, of data, insight, and scale, is difficult to replicate, reinforcing Optasia’s position as a critical enabler of financial access rather than a replaceable fintech vendor. 

Financially, the growth trajectory has been exceptional. Group revenue rose from US $124 million in 2022 to US $151 million in 2024, with momentum accelerating sharply in the first half of 2025, when revenue surged 90% year-on-year to US $117 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased from US $59 million in 2022 to US $75 million in 2024 as scale efficiencies and mix improvements filter through. 

In 2024, Optasia distributed aprox. US $3.8 billion in consumer loans, all while maintaining an exceptionally low blended default rate. Even as working capital requirements have risen with the expansion of MFS, cash generation has remained strong, with free cash flow conversion reported around 42% in FY2024. The balance sheet remains healthy, with net-debt-to- Adj.EBITDA hovering near 0.8-1×.

The company’s forthcoming Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listing marks a major milestone in its evolution from a private fintech disruptor to a listed emerging-market champion. Based on the indicative IPO price range of R15.50 – R19.00 per share, Optasia would debut with a market capitalisation between R19 billion and R23 billion.

The valuation implied by this range suggests a degree of market optimism regarding Optasia’s growth trajectory, scalability, and long-term earnings potential, reflecting investor confidence in its differentiated business model and expanding presence across emerging market supported by historical gross margins of around 90%, EBITDA margins of around 40–50%, and adj. profit margins within the 20–30% range.

As it prepares to list on the JSE, the company offers investors a rare opportunity to participate in a pureplay fintech operating in a very large market.

At EasyAssetManagement, we take a thematic approach to investing, focusing on long-term structural trends that are reshaping industries and economies. As part of this approach, we actively monitor a range of themes that we believe present meaningful opportunities for investors. key themes include Fintech, Financial Inclusion, and The Emerging Consumer, which includes companies such as Optasia, Capitec, Purple Group and Lewis Group.

If you are looking for exposure to global equities, AI-themed opportunities, or a balanced investment strategy check out our EasyETFs Global Equity Actively Managed ETF, EasyETFs AI World Actively Managed ETF and EasyETFs Balanced Actively Managed ETF.

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