FirstRand, one of South Africa’s leading financial institutions, has secured a 20.1 per cent stake in Optasia, a Dubai-based fintech company valued at R17.2 billion and backed by prominent South African venture capitalist Michael Jordaan. The acquisition, announced alongside Optasia’s ongoing initial public offering (IPO) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, marks a strategic move to bolster FirstRand’s presence in emerging markets’ financial technology sector. According to BusinessLIVE, the deal aligns with the bank’s ambition to harness innovative platforms to expand financial inclusion across Africa and beyond.
Optasia, founded in 2012 by Nigerian entrepreneur Bassim Haidar, has emerged as a global leader in AI-powered financial services, specialising in micro-financing solutions for underbanked and unbanked consumers, practitioners, and micro-enterprises in 38 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. TechCabal reports that micro-financing now accounts for 62 per cent of Optasia’s revenue in 2025, a significant rise from 14 per cent in 2022, driven by products like airtime advances and microlending services. Notably, the company powers Vodacom’s Airtime Advance, which contributed to a 7.9 per cent increase in the mobile operator’s fintech revenue, reaching R3.4 billion in its 2025 financial year, as detailed in Vodacom’s Annual Report.
The IPO, which aims to raise approximately R1.3 billion in fresh capital and facilitate the sale of R5 billion in shares from existing shareholders, is designed to fuel Optasia’s growth through organic expansion and potential acquisitions. Bloomberg notes that the listing will enhance the liquidity of Optasia’s shares, elevate its public profile, and provide a mechanism for early investors, including those linked to Jordaan’s Chronos Capital, to partially exit their holdings. Jordaan, a former CEO of First National Bank (FNB) and co-founder of Chronos Capital alongside Nic Kohler, Willem Roos, and Roger Grobler, was appointed Optasia’s independent chairman in April 2025, lending significant credibility to the company’s ambitions.
FirstRand’s investment reflects its confidence in Optasia’s innovative approach, particularly its ability to pre-score customers, process microloans at scale, and leverage mobile data for credit collection. The bank highlighted the platform’s success in addressing the lending needs of millions who struggle to access traditional credit products, offering FirstRand a gateway to new markets that would be difficult to penetrate organically. Fin24 underscores that FNB, FirstRand’s retail and business banking arm, plans to integrate Optasia’s proprietary AI technology to accelerate its growth in underrepresented South African segments and its broader African portfolio, which includes operations in eight countries.
The strategic rationale for the acquisition extends beyond technology. Optasia’s partnerships with major telecoms like Vodacom and MTN, where it supports services such as MTN MoMo, have proven its scalability and market fit. For instance, Vodacom’s Airtime Advance accounted for 45 per cent of its prepaid recharges in 2022, demonstrating the product’s transformative impact, as per MyBroadband. FirstRand’s CEO, Mary Vilakazi, expressed enthusiasm for the deal, noting that it positions the bank to enhance its credit capabilities and extend financial access across the continent, aligning with FNB’s goal of capturing growth in high-potential emerging markets.
Optasia’s rise comes at a time when Africa’s fintech sector is booming, with the continent’s digital lending market projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 22 per cent through 2030, according to McKinsey. The company’s focus on mobile-driven solutions resonates with Africa’s 1.4 billion-strong population, where smartphone penetration is expected to reach 88 per cent by 2030, per GSMA. This demographic shift, coupled with increasing demand for accessible financial services, positions Optasia—and by extension FirstRand—to capitalise on a rapidly evolving landscape.
As Optasia prepares for its JSE debut, the partnership with FirstRand signals a deepening of South Africa’s role in global fintech innovation. The deal not only strengthens FirstRand’s foothold in digital lending but also underscores the growing influence of African-founded ventures like Optasia, which has transitioned from a telecom-focused platform to a fintech juggernaut. Reuters highlights that the IPO and FirstRand’s investment could attract further institutional interest, potentially reshaping the competitive dynamics of Africa’s financial services sector as it navigates regulatory complexities and intensifying competition from global players.