President Bola Tinubu has reportedly directed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to dismantle the long-standing 12-year monopoly held by South African fintech company Optasia in Nigeria’s airtime credit and data lending market.
The directive marks a major policy shift aimed at opening up the airtime advance and micro-lending space, which is estimated to be worth trillions of naira annually and widely used by millions of mobile subscribers across Nigeria.
According to reports, the Presidency’s move will:
- End Optasia’s exclusive control of airtime/data credit services
- Allow multiple Nigerian fintech companies to operate in the space
- Introduce competition in a market previously dominated by a single foreign operator
Sources say at least nine Nigerian fintech firms are expected to be onboarded into the newly liberalised system.
Officials reportedly justified the decision on concerns including:
- Capital flight from Nigeria to foreign firms
- Limited local participation in the sector
- Lack of competition in a key digital financial service used by low-income Nigerians
The FCCPC argued that opening the market would align with the government’s broader “Nigeria First” technology and economic policy, aimed at boosting local innovation and job creation.
Optasia (formerly Channel VAS) has operated in Nigeria’s airtime lending ecosystem for over a decade, powering “borrow airtime” services used by telecom subscribers when their balance runs low.
The company’s model allows users to access small credit amounts instantly and repay during their next recharge.
The directive effectively ends a single-dominant-provider structure in Nigeria’s airtime credit market and signals a push toward competition, local fintech participation, and tighter regulation of digital lending services.
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