FACT-CHECK: Is Nigeria’s Airtime Credit Lending Market Worth N3 Trillion and Controlled by One Firm?
Claim one: emerging reports claims Nigeria’s airtime credit lending and data advance sector generates approximately N3 trillion annually.
Claim two: several Nigerian media organisations, including The Nation, Premium Times, and BusinessDay, reported that Optasia formerly known as Channel VAS, dominated Nigeria’s airtime credit lending market for over a decade through partnerships with major telecom operators including MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9mobile.
Reports described the arrangement as a “virtual monopoly,” alleging that Optasia controlled the technological infrastructure powering airtime and data advance services across the telecom sector.
The report further alleged that the company maintained limited operational presence in Nigeria, employed few Nigerians directly, and did not significantly integrate with local credit reporting systems.
Background: The suspension of airtime and data credit services by Nigeria’s telecommunications operators has disrupted a service used by an estimated 40 million subscribers and drawn attention to a little-understood corner of the country’s digital economy.
Airtime credit has become a critical service for millions of Nigerian prepaid mobile subscribers who rely on small advances to stay connected between recharges. The service operates through partnerships between telecom operators and specialised value-added service providers that manage the underlying technology and customer eligibility systems.
Claims surrounding Nigeria’s airtime credit lending data advance market have come under increasing scrutiny following reports alleging that South African technology firm Optasia maintained a 12-year monopoly over the sector and that the industry is worth as much as N3 trillion annually.
Verification: PRNigeria conducted a comprehensive research by visiting the data and statistics website of Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, the prominent regulator of Telecom Industry in Nigeria and Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN, to see if Nigeria’s airtime credit lending and data advance sector generates approximately N3 trillion annually, no data currently confirms the N3 trillion estimate as the sector’s annual revenue size.
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PRNigeria also cited a report by The Guardian quoted the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, questioning the credibility of the figure and arguing that publicly available estimates place the market closer to ₦400 billion annually.
While the figure has appeared in several reports, there’s no publicly available audited or regulatory data currently confirms it. Competing estimates place the market closer to ₦400 billion annually.
On monopoly, PRNigeria gathered from industry records, show a more diverse ecosystem involving multiple technology providers working with telecom operators. Creditswitch, a Nigerian-founded value-added service company established by Tayo Adigun in 2013, has operated within the sector for years alongside other technology providers, including Fonyou, Avyra and ERL Telecoms.
The market operates through technical partnership arrangements rather than an exclusive structure controlled by one company.
Publicly available corporate records shows that Nairtime Nigeria Limited, Optasia’s Nigerian operating subsidiary, is a locally registered company incorporated more than a decade ago.
Recent regulatory actions by the FCCPC approving multiple lenders further suggest that the market is transitioning toward a more competitive structure rather than remaining exclusively controlled by one company.
Available evidence does not conclusively support the claim that Optasia operated a formal regulatory monopoly granted by the Nigerian state.
Conclusion: At present, no official statistical publication from the CBN, NCC, or FCCPC has publicly validated the ₦3 trillion estimate. Existing regulatory documents only confirm that airtime and data lending services fall under joint oversight involving telecom and financial regulators.
The absence of transparent methodology behind the N3 trillion figure makes the claim difficult to substantiate.
Verdict: There’s INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE to substantiate the claim that the credit market is worth ₦3 trillion annually.
Similarly, the claim that the sector is a monopoly, is MISLEADING.
By PRNigeria
