GUGU LOURIE | Optasia’s JSE listing a watershed for African financial inclusion

It’s not often a columnist gets to say, “I told you so”, while watching predictions unfold with such compelling force. Back in February 2022, I argued in this very space that fintech was becoming the new airtime, the lifeblood for telecom giants like MTN and Vodacom.

I suggested then that it would be a prudent move for them to acquire emerging fintech platforms.

One name stood out: Channel VAS. Well, fast-forward to today, and the company, now rebranded as Optasia, is not waiting to be bought. It is marching directly onto the JSE with a landmark initial public offering (IPO).

And if you’re an investor with an eye for the future, you need to understand why this isn’t just another listing. This is a signal that Africa’s digital finance revolution is transitioning from its early, scrappy startup phase into a period of mature, high-tech dominance.

The simple, great idea behind Optasia is one that solves a fundamental market failure.

For decades, the vast majority of Africans have been locked out of formal credit, not because they are unreliable but because the traditional system lacks the vision to see their worth.

Optasia is a light and scalable tech platform that can be rolled out across new regions with minimal incremental cost, protected by sophisticated infrastructure and data security policies

Banks rely on structured data — payslips, credit histories — that simply don’t exist for a mechanic in Lagos, market trader in Nairobi, farmer in rural Zambia, or even an entrepreneur in the bustling township of Soweto.

Optasia’s genius lies in its name, derived from the Greek word for “vision”. Optasia’s proprietary AI platform gives financial institutions the eyes to see creditworthiness where there was only darkness. It plugs into the systems of mobile operators — your M-Pesa app — and uses unstructured data, the digital breadcrumbs we all leave behind, to answer two critical questions: Can this customer repay a loan? And how much can the customer afford?

Think of it as an invisible financial engine. A customer applies for a small loan through their mobile wallet. Within seconds, Optasia’s AI analyses more than 100,000 unique data points per person, funnels them through its algorithms, and makes a credit decision. It then partners with licensed banks like Ecobank to disburse the funds. The customer pays a service fee, not interest, and Optasia underwrites the risk.

It’s a seamless, secure and stunningly efficient ecosystem.

The numbers are not just impressive; they are a testament to a model that works at a scale few can match. With 121-million monthly active users, 32-million loan transactions processed per day, and access to more than 860-million mobile subscribers, Optasia is not dabbling. It is operating a massive digital company.

But the real magic, the “game-changer” element, is what economists call the network effect, or as Optasia puts it, the “flywheel”. Every loan application, every repayment, makes its AI smarter. As the Optasia AI platform learns, its credit decisions improve, allowing it to offer more products to more people. This, in turn, attracts more partners, which generates more data, making Optasia’s AI platform even more intelligent.

This is a self-reinforcing cycle that creates a channel so wide and deep, it’s almost impossible for competitors to cross. The company itself states it has observed no direct competitor at its scale and geographic reach.

For a potential investor, this translates into a rare opportunity. Optasia is only scratching the surface of an African continent where mobile penetration is deepening and traditional credit is scarce. Its total addressable market is hundreds of millions of people yearning for financial access.

Optasia is a light and scalable tech platform that can be rolled out across new regions with minimal incremental cost, protected by sophisticated infrastructure and data security policies.

With a presence in 38 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, Optasia is insulated from regional economic shocks. So while Vodacom and MTN are in a race to build Africa’s largest fintech platform, one wonders if they now look at Optasia’s IPO with a tinge of regret for not heeding a certain columnist’s advice.

But their loss is the market’s gain.

By listing on the JSE, Optasia is offering a pure-play, high-growth investment into the very heart of Africa’s digital future.

This is more than a company going public. It is the coming-of-age of a platform that has cracked the code on financial inclusion. For investors, it’s a chance to back the invisible engine that is powering the next billion customers into the formal economy.

Don’t just watch it pass by.

• Lourie is the founder and editor of TechFinancials