Optasia, the South African company that provides airtime credit services to most Nigerian telcos and banks, has revealed that its airtime lending revenue from the Nigerian market fell below 4% in Q2 2026. The performance is attributed to regulatory issues and increased competition.
According to Optasia’s earnings report, which was released to investors on Monday, Nigeria, which is a significant market for the group, accounted for under 4% of revenue in the second quarter of 2026 due to a pause in operations. This is compared to roughly 14% of its total revenue in the entire year of 2025.
In April 2026, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) introduced new rules regulating digital consumer lending services known as the Digital and Non-Traditional Consumer Lending (DEON) Rule.
As airtime credit services (which involve borrowing airtime or data from telecom operators) fall under consumer lending, these services were temporarily paused nationwide to align with the new regulations. During this period, telecom operators paused the services to align with the new regulatory rules and recover their outstanding amounts from airtime lending.
Amid legal battles and stakeholders’ intervention, the suspension ended gradually, with operators resuming the service at different times. On June 24, 2026, Optasia confirmed the full restoration of the airtime lending service across all its telecom operator partners in Nigeria.
Optasia operates in Nigeria through Nairtime and sits behind Nigeria’s major mobile operators as the credit engine powering airtime and data loans. It provides the AI-driven lending infrastructure that MTN, Airtel and Globacom have been using for a while.
The Nigerian airtime lending market is vast, with recent reports indicating that over 40 million Nigerians rely on airtime lending services, which is also valued between ₦300 and ₦400 billion, making it one of the key services offered by telecom operators.
During the first three months of 2026, leading operators, MTN and Airtel, saw a combined ₦98.22 billion in airtime lending revenue. Airtel recorded ₦50.42 billion ($36.8 million) in revenue, while MTN earned ₦47.8 billion.
Competition in Nigeria
Optasia’s flagship solo run as the major provider of airtime lending services for Nigerian telecom operators and banks has faced a major hit.
In its earnings release, the group confirmed that following the full restoration of the leading service in late June, it now operates under a multi-provider setup. This means that it now competes directly with other credit service providers in Nigeria and holds no exclusive rights with its partners.
“Services are now live under a multi-provider model, with customer allocation based on performance. Multi-provider arrangements have been present in the Nigerian market for some time,” it said in its H1 2026 financial report.
Recall that during the airtime lending suspension, FCCPC approved five new airtime and data lenders. The five firms, all Value Added Services (VAS) operators, are Total Tim Nigeria Limited, Rane Interactive Medien CLS Limited, Mode NG Applications Limited, Cloud Interactive Associate Limited, and Coverage Broadband Limited.
Regulators and stakeholders also added that telecom operators and banks are at liberty to use one or a combination of two or more airtime lending providers, provided they are approved by the FCCPC
Also read: Here are the 3 Banks offering airtime lending service | See how to borrow.
Optasia noted that it has officially secured the required approval from the FCCPC, allowing it to legally operate its credit services in Nigeria while monitoring the ongoing legal developments.
In addition, the company stressed that its core risk-scoring algorithms, technology, and decisioning models remain strictly its own IP (intellectual property) to maintain its competitive edge. This shows that the service provider is confident of maintaining the lead as a major airtime lending middleman in Nigeria.
Optasia’s H1 2026 performance
In the group’s earnings for H1 2026, Optasia said revenue growth in airtime credit services increased by 16.7%, from $43.8 million to $51.1 million. Total group profit during the period was $36.9 million, representing 58.3% year-on-year (YoY) growth from $23.3 million.
Optasia reported that its mobile financial service revenue grew by 87.3% YoY, reaching $133.0 million. It added that this represented 72% of group revenue.
However, the group recorded losses in its South African operation. While revenue from Nairtime South Africa grew by 12.4% to $3.54 million during the period, there was a loss of $1.6 million. During the first six months of 2025, it recorded a profit of $1.5 million.
The loss is attributed to a rise in expenses, as Nairtime South Africa saw a massive 210.7% YoY increase in spending from $1.67 million in H1 2025 to $5.17 million in H1 2026.
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