Optasia Expands Microfinance Credit Across African Markets
Optasia Shifts Strategic Focus to Microfinance Following Strong Growth
Pan-African fintech company Optasia generated $270 million in revenue over the first nine months of 2026, marking a 45% increase year on year as it expands beyond airtime advances. Speaking in an interview published by techcabal.com on Thursday, Chief Executive Salvador Anglada shared details of the company's rapid shift toward microfinance. The performance comes one year after the firm made its R23.5 billion ($1.4 billion) initial public offering on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 2025.
Key Details Behind the Revenue Growth
The company's financial results have outstripped guidance set during its public listing. First-half revenue grew by close to 60% in September 2026, while nine-month revenue reached $270 million. Microfinance has become the primary financial engine for the business, contributing $194 million, or approximately 72% of group revenue, during the nine-month period. Meanwhile, airtime credit generated $75 million. The executive team aims to increase microfinance to more than 80% of total revenue over time.
Optasia originally built its scale by enabling mobile subscribers to get airtime credit advances when short on funds. Reflecting on this background, Anglada stated, "The company started with airtime credit, and we did a fantastic job in that space. However, airtime credit is essentially a convenience product." He explained that the business has pivoted toward meeting broader borrowing requirements for underserved consumers and small commercial enterprises.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, traditional banking institutions rely heavily on payslips, formal credit histories, and collateral such as land or property to evaluate creditworthiness. As a result, millions of small businesses and gig workers remain shut out of formal financial channels. Citing the World Bank's Global Findex Database 2025, the report highlighted that only 7% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa borrowed from mobile money providers in 2024, even though those providers delivered nearly 60% of all formal borrowing in the region.
To evaluate borrowers who lack conventional documentation, Optasia leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning, and alternative data sources like mobile transaction histories. Anglada explained, "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." The technology constructs more than 100,000 behavioural features per person to set appropriate loan amounts and limit default risk.
Key growth areas for the platform include Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, and other markets across West Africa, along with Pakistan outside the continent. In addition, operating as a publicly listed entity on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange has led the firm to establish board committees, expand investor relations capabilities, and strengthen regulatory compliance functions.
What This Means for You
For business owners and managers across Nigeria and the wider African continent, this shift highlights how the lending landscape is evolving away from rigid banking criteria. Many growing businesses suffer from cash flow constraints because they lack formal property deeds or long-standing credit histories needed to secure traditional loans. Anglada noted, "Many small businesses cannot access financial services or loans because they lack the formal structures and documentation traditional lenders require," adding that the firm is creating targeted products to address these gaps.
As credit distribution platforms expand into merchant financing and working capital, funding availability will increasingly depend on your digital footprint and alternative operational data rather than strict physical assets. This creates new opportunities for enterprises in the informal sector to access key liquidity for inventory, operations, and scaling needs.
What to Do Now
Business leaders looking to position their companies for data-driven credit options can consider these practical steps:
- Build clean digital payment histories: Route company revenue through mobile money accounts, digital point-of-sale systems, and trackable platforms to generate the operational data fintech risk engines analyze.
- Explore alternative business financing: Monitor emerging merchant financing products offered through mobile network operators and partner financial institutions rather than relying exclusively on traditional commercial banks.
- Maintain disciplined debt management: Assess borrowing capacity carefully before taking on short-term digital credit, ensuring interest rates and repayment schedules align with expected cash flow to prevent over-indebtedness.