New JSE-listed fintech giant shooting the lights out

AI-powered fintech firm Optasia has released its first set of results since listing on the JSE in November 2025, which revealed a bumper performance for the group.

Founded in 2012, Optasia is one of the world’s largest AI-powered fintech platforms, operating in 38 countries across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with South Africa and Nigeria among its largest markets.

The company uses AI and thousands of data points to assess creditworthiness and offer microloans and cash advances to underbanked customers.

Optasia works with mobile partners, including South African telecoms giants MTN and Vodacom. To date, the company has extended more than $20 billion in small loans and credit facilities.

It has drawn a lot of attention since its Initial Public Offering in November 2025, with major companies like FirstRand betting on Optasia’s success.

On Monday, 16 March, Optasia made a splash with its first set of results as a JSE-listed company, detailing its performance for the year through December 2025.

It reported revenue growth of 75.51% to $265.36 million (R4.47 billion) and operating profit growth of 29.40% to $71.41 million (R1.20 billion).

Optasia recorded a profit of $43.13 million (R725.06 million) for the year, up 19%, and earnings of 3.38 US cents (57 South African cents) per share.

The group noted that its earnings for the year were impacted by one-off costs associated with its listing on the JSE in November 2025, including capital transaction costs and management compensation.

However, the company explained that it had benefited from a stabilising and increasingly positive macroeconomic environment across its core emerging markets.

“Growth was driven by deeper penetration with existing partners, the addition of new partners and expansion into new geographies,” it said.

This expansion included eight new deployments launched during the year, with its micro-financing solutions (MFS) expanding into new markets like Cameroon, Ghana and Congo-Brazzaville.

Optasia’s airtime credit solutions (ACS) also expanded into new markets, including Liberia, Eswatini and Malaysia.

However, the company said its main growth driver was its MFS business, which saw revenue grow by 149% year-on-year to $167.53 million (R2.82 billion), now accounting for 63% of group revenue and overtaking ACS for the first time.

“As the contribution of MFS increases, the group’s mix is evolving toward services with stronger underlying unit economics and higher profit per unit of distribution,” the company said.

“This is reflected in the improvement in adjusted EBITDA to Distributed Value, which increased from 2.0% in 2024 to 2.1% in 2025.”