Global fintech giant coming to the JSE

Artificial intelligence-powered financial technology firm Optasia plans to raise R6.3 billion ($365 million) selling shares in South Africa and use the proceeds to acquire companies as demand for digital finance booms.

The Dubai-based company founded by Nigerian-born Lebanese entrepreneur, Bassim Haidar, will raise R1.3 billion in an initial public offering in Johannesburg, while the founders will offer R5 billion of shares in a private placement.

Optasia hired Morgan Stanley and Standard Bank to assist with the listing, as well as Investec as its bookrunner, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. 

Optasia is seeking to capitalize on a 30% advance in South Africa’s benchmark stock index and the frenzied demand to own stakes in AI-powered companies.

The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index fell 0.4% on Tuesday, after rising to a record a day earlier. Boxer raised more than R8 billion last year in South Africa’s biggest IPO since 2017.

Founded in 2012, Optasia operates in 38 countries mostly in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Using AI and about 5,000 data points, the company assesses creditworthiness to offer microloans and cash advances to underbanked customers through mobile partners including MTN and Vodacom. The process can help lower costs for lenders.

The company says it also collaborates with lenders including Standard Bank and Ecobank Transnational Inc. to disburse funds. 

About 1.3 billion adults globally remain unbanked, mainly due to a lack of money, distance from the nearest financial institution and high fees, with more than half of them concentrated in just eight countries, including Nigeria, China, Egypt and India, according to the Global Findex 2025 survey.

The market has been a target for fintechs expanding aggressively to capture those types of customers who are also connected to the internet, particularly by mobile phone.

To date, Optasia has extended more than $20 billion in small loans and credit facilities — equivalent to more than $380 million a month.

Its AI model processes more than 32 million near-instant credit decisions daily and the company has 121 million active users, with South Africa and Nigeria among its largest markets.