Standard Bank supports historic AI-fintech listing with Optasia's debut on JSE

ICT Journal.Africa Reporter

:Standard Bank has celebrated Optasia’s historic JSE listing, which has highlighted the bank’s role in supporting African fintech growth and financial inclusion.

Africa’s fintech landscape witnessed a historic moment this week as AI-powered financial technology company Optasia made its debut on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), marking the largest fintech listing since 2018.

The firm, founded in Nigeria 13 years ago, is valued at approximately $1.4 billion (R23.5 billion) and sets a new benchmark for AI-driven, emerging market platforms, with Standard Bank playing a leading role in the milestone.

The fintech giant has spent over a decade driving financial inclusion in emerging markets across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Its proprietary AI-led platform supports credit scoring, financial decisioning, disbursement, and collections, serving more than 38 countries, mostly in Africa. More tellingly, since getting its first business break from Cameroon in 2013, the now Dubai-headquartered African unicorn processes 32 million loan transactions daily, serving 121 million active users monthly.

It presently partners with 49 distribution networks and 13 financial institutions, including major African mobile operators MTN, Vodacom, and Airtel, to deliver microloans, airtime and credit to financially underserved communities.

The rebranding to Optasia in 2022, from the Greek word for “vision,” signalled the company’s ambitions to expand globally while providing financial empowerment to millions. “From humble beginnings as a single-country airtime credit provider, Optasia has scaled into an emerging market fintech powerhouse. We are excited about the next phase of growth as a listed company on the JSE,” said Bassim Haidar, founder of Optasia.

Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets, was instrumental in Optasia’s journey from start-up to public listing. Acting as Joint Global Coordinator, Stabilisation Manager, and Transaction Sponsor, the bank catalysed debt and private equity funding at critical growth stages.

Yusuf Noorbhai, Head of Structured Capital at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking, underlined that Optasia’s IPO represents a massive vote of confidence in the JSE as a listing venue for African and high-growth technology companies.

“As Africa’s leading investment bank, we are deeply privileged to have been partners to Optasia, its founder and shareholders, not only as an advisor and funding partner, but importantly as an equity investor catalysing private equity capital at multiple stages of the Optasia growth journey. This is a testament to our unmatched expertise in delivering a market-leading value proposition in public and private markets across Africa. Optasia’s IPO represents a massive vote of confidence in the JSE as a listing venue for African companies, including high-growth technology-enabled businesses,” he said.

The IPO, supported alongside Morgan Stanley and Investec, included a share sale closing at R19 per share, with FirstRand acquiring a 20.1% stake. The offering positions Optasia to accelerate its expansion in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with plans to broaden its credit offerings to include buy-now-pay-later options and virtual credit services.

As fintech continues to transform the African economy, Optasia’s AI-led platform and JSE debut are a shining feather in the continent’s capacity for innovation. With 1.7 billion adults globally lacking access to traditional financial services, the JSE-listed African fintech’s mission to enable financial inclusion for the next billion customers is now set to unfold on a much larger stage.