TymeBank, Optasia, and Cell C Shake Up SA Markets

Welcome back to The Banking Brief! This week, three major South African players are rewriting the rulebook: TymeBank appoints a seasoned insider as its new CEO, Optasia’s fintech IPO sparks major waves on the JSE, and Cell C sets sights on a bold stock exchange debut. Expect big moves in digital banking, fintech, and telecom sectors that could reshape market landscapes and investment flows. Let’s unpack what’s driving the buzz and what it means for you.

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Golden Nuggets

• TymeBank names Cheslyn Jacobs, a founding insider with 10+ years experience, as CEO from January 2026, doubling down on user experience and expansion plans.

• Optasia achieves a landmark JSE listing valued at R23.5 billion, demonstrating fintech's rising star in Africa’s financial ecosystem.

• Cell C announces an upcoming JSE listing with plans to raise R7.7 billion via private placement to reduce debt and fuel next-phase growth.

Three Big Stories

TymeBank's Next Chapter with Cheslyn Jacobs

What’s Happening? TymeBank, a $1.5 billion fintech backed by Patrice Motsepe and serving over 11 million customers, is appointing Cheslyn Jacobs as CEO starting January 2026. Jacobs knows the bank inside out, having been involved since its founding.

So what? The bank is focusing on enhancing customer experience and expanding under the fresh GoTyme rebrand. This leadership transition signals a fresh wave of innovation and growth, with plans to dual-list on the New York and Johannesburg stock exchanges by 2028.

Optasia IPO: Fintech Power Play on the JSE

Catch Up: Optasia recently listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Main Board with a valuation of R23.5 billion, raising significant capital and generating R416 million in bankers’ earnings. Backed by FirstRand and connecting telecom giants like Vodacom and MTN, Optasia provides scalable financial infrastructure across Africa, driving financial inclusion. This IPO showcases investor confidence in African fintechs as strong growth engines.

State of Play: Optasia provide the infrastructure behind airtime advances, which often make up ~40% of Telecoms like Vodacom and MTN revenues. Post-IPO, Optasia plans to leverage its newfound capital to scale its Micro-Financing Solutions segment, which has emerged as the primary profitability engine beyond its traditional airtime credit services.

Cell C’s JSE Listing: Telecom’s Next Growth Chapter

State of Play: Cell C is preparing for its listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with plans to raise about R7.7 billion via a private placement led by shareholder Blu Label Unlimited. The funds will be used to pay down debt, distribute dividends, and boost working capital, marking a significant step in its turnaround amid fierce competition.

What to watch: Executives in telecom and banking should watch Cell C’s restructuring for lessons on managing capital markets access amid sector challenges and evolving customer needs.

Why care: This marks an important moment in telecom-finance convergence, where financial discipline and market credibility can unlock growth avenues in highly competitive ecosystems. The Cell C IPO would unbundle Blu Label, making it an attractive acquisition target for large banking firms like Capitec.

The Scoop

• Vodacom finally settles its long-running "Please Call Me" legal saga, ending a costly chapter for one of Africa’s telecom giants. This closure clears regulatory and reputational roadblocks, allowing Vodacom to focus resources on innovation and customer experience improvements. Banks partnering with telecoms will want to watch how this legal resolution impacts Vodacom’s ecosystem partnerships.

• In Wall Street drama, Hedgefund billionaire investor Michael Burry who predicted the housing crisis of 2008 - yes, the investor in the Big Short who walked around without shoes - is placing a huge $11 billion bet against AI darlings Nvidia and Palantir, underscoring the polarised views on AI’s market impact and future.

• On the VC front, South African born Roelof Botha is stepping down as head of Sequoia Capital, a signal that could reshape African venture capital flows. Executives should watch how leadership shifts impact startup funding and support for scaling fintech ventures.

• Former Vodacom Group executive Romeo Kumalo, co-founder of LLH Capital, is planning to raise a $200 million (about R3.5 billion) private equity fund focused on investing in artificial intelligence startups across Africa. This move comes on the heels of LLH Capital’s profitable exit from Optasia, the fintech and AI platform that recently debuted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Startup Spotlight

Pesapal is a Kenyan fintech powerhouse that's reshaping digital payments across East Africa and beyond. Founded in 2009 by Agosta Liko, Pesapal offers a versatile platform where users can pay bills, book flights and hotels, or shop online: all in one secure app that integrates major payment systems like M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Visa, and Mastercard.

Licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, Pesapal targets SMEs and local merchants with tools such as POS terminals, e-commerce integrations, and management dashboards, enabling businesses to accept mobile money and card payments seamlessly.

Recently, banking giant KCB Group acquired a minority stake in Pesapal, underscoring its commitment to building an integrated financial ecosystem that combines KCB's heavyweight banking reach with Pesapal’s agile payment solutions.

+ This

The Original "Pygg": In The Middle Ages, people commonly used household jars and pots made from a type of inexpensive, unglazed orange-colored clay known as "pygg" (or pygge). They would store their coins and leftover change in these pygg jars. And over time, when asked to make a bank, English potters began to craft the containers in the shape of a pig as a kind of funny, clever pun on the material's name. This playful tradition stuck, giving us the iconic piggy bank we know today.