President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to dismantle the 12-year monopoly enjoyed by South African technology firm Optasia (formerly Channel VAS) in Nigeria’s airtime credit lending and data advance market.
The directive aims to liberalize a sector estimated to be worth up to ₦3 trillion in annual transaction value, opening it up exclusively to indigenous financial technology companies.
The decision followed a detailed briefing by the FCCPC, during which the commission warned the presidency that Optasia’s long-standing dominance had encouraged massive capital flight.
Profits running into trillions of naira have been transferred out of Nigeria annually while generating limited local economic value. Operating primarily through its subsidiary Nairtime, the recently JSE-listed firm has maintained a near-exclusive grip on airtime credit services—such as MTN’s XtraTime—across major networks and their African affiliates.
Regulators raised serious concerns over the company’s thin operational footprint in the country, noting that it maintains no significant administrative infrastructure, employs virtually no local staff, and does not share consumer credit histories with Nigerian bureaus.
The presidency’s intervention comes on the heels of a tug-of-war between the FCCPC and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that recently halted airtime and internet data lending services across the country.
The crisis began when the FCCPC attempted to enforce its Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-traditional Consumer Lending (DEON) Regulations, arguing that advancing airtime and data constitutes a financial consumer loan that requires strict data transparency and consumer protection oversight.
Major telecommunications operators—including MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile resisted, countering that airtime lending is a Value-Added Service (VAS) falling strictly under the technical purview of the NCC.
Rather than risk heavy compliance penalties, the telecom operators froze their credit lending services entirely.
Reacting, Optasia, via Nairtime, quickly approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, securing an interim injunction that restrained the FCCPC from enforcing its DEON framework and barred telcos from disconnecting its access to vital Short Codes, SMS, USSD, and billing infrastructure. Faced with public pressure and legal risks, the FCCPC temporarily suspended its regulatory clampdown, allowing operators like Airtel and Glo to gradually restore their credit lending platforms.
Behind the scenes, it is understood that Optasia reportedly launched a high-level diplomatic counter-offensive, attempting to enlist the support of a foreign president to persuade President Tinubu to preserve the status quo. However, the presidency rejected the pressure, favoring the FCCPC’s economic arguments that indigenous technology firms possess the technical capacity to manage the infrastructure locally.
To permanently reshape the market, the FCCPC has licensed and forwarded a list of nine indigenous technology companies to the presidency as technically capable of operating these high-volume lending services.
They are: Total Tim Nigeria Limited; Rane Interactive Medien CLS Limited; Mode NG Applications Limited; Cloud Interactive Associate Limited; Coverage Broadband Limited; Technotrends Platforms Nigeria Limited; Fonyou Technologies Nigeria Limited; MRS Innovation Nigeria Limited; ERL Telecoms Service Limited.