Nigerians do not understand the gravity of the dispute between South Africa’s Optasia and Nigeria’s FCCPC! This is a summary breakdown!
Optasia is a global conglomerate, listed on the South African Stock Market. In Nigeria, it operates as Nairatime.
It is the only company in Nigeria that powers the platform MTN, Airtel, and other telecoms companies in Nigeria use to lend airtime and data to Nigerians. It takes all the profits and flies the money to South Africa, where it’s based.
Since Telecoms companies like MTN and Airtel began lending airtime and data to Nigerians, their transactions have been unregulated, unlike in other countries.
So, earlier last year, the FCCPC, the federal authority in charge of regulating the relationship between companies and customers in Nigeria, moved to regulate airtime and data lending by the telecoms companies.
The regulation included opening up the market to other players, especially Nigerian-owned companies. It mandated that Optasia will no longer be the only company that will provide MTN, Airtel, and co the platform to power their airtime and data lending services.
The regulation provides that the telecoms companies must do business with or employ the services of at least one Nigerian-owned company.
Immediately the regulation came out, Optasia, the South African company, seeing that it would crush its monopoly, moved into full swing to stop it. They ensured that the regulation, which has been pending since July 2025 till now, is not implemented
When Optasia saw that its efforts were not yielding, it rushed to obtain a dubious court order from a Nigerian court stopping the FCCPC from proceeding to implement the regulation. Can you imagine that?
Well, we were one of the voices who got wind of the case and stood against Optasia’s effrontery and disrespectful audacity. We wrote a couple of times to educate Nigerians on the issue.
Finally, and fortunately, the FCCPC has risen to the occasion and is proceeding with implementing the regulation, after appealing the dubious court order that Optasia obtained from one of our courts.
This is the situation! For the corruption that has eaten so deeply into our system, Optasia had the guts to reject and fight to stop a regulation by a Nigerian authority.
Meanwhile, in the over 30 countries where it operates, including South Africa where it is listed, Optasia obeys the regulations of the country, even to the letter!
