Finergi is a fintech scaling access to prepaid electricity and mobile financial services across Africa. Part of the Optasia Group (JSE: OPA), we partner with utilities, mobile network operators, banks and payment providers to put credit and power in the hands of the people who need it — Light On. Credit On. Future On.
We're growing fast across multiple markets, and we're looking for a commercial leader to carry that momentum on the ground.
This is the commercial engine room of our expansion. You'll own our partner relationships across several African markets — utilities, regulators, mobile operators, banks, aggregators, municipalities and local partners — and drive them from first agreement all the way to live launch.
You'll pick up newly opened partnerships, build cadence with each counterparty, move deals through their internal approval processes, and hand anchored projects over to our delivery team while staying the commercial point of contact. It's a role for someone who thrives on ownership, keeps many relationships moving at once, and closes.
You'll report directly to the Group CEO and work closely with our delivery (PMO) and country teams.
What you'll do
- Own and grow commercial relationships with partners across multiple markets — utilities, regulators, MNOs, banks, aggregators, municipalities and local partners
- Take newly opened partnerships and drive them through to signed commercial agreements and live launches
- Keep deals moving between senior visits: hold cadence with counterparties, chase commercial paperwork, and walk agreements through partners' working levels
- Coordinate closely with the delivery/PMO team to hand over launch-ready projects, while remaining the commercial lead at counterparty level
- Escalate to leadership when a principal-to-principal intervention is needed
- Keep a clear view of the pipeline and provide regular updates on relationship and deal status
- Represent Finergi on the ground and build a durable in-country presence
What you'll bring
- Significant commercial experience (typically 10+ years) in business development, partnerships or key account management
- A track record of leading and closing complex B2B and government deals and managing senior stakeholder relationships
- Experience operating across African markets, comfortable in multi-country, multi-stakeholder environments
- A strong relationship builder who is credible and builds confidence with executives, regulators and commercial partners alike
- A self-starter who can work independently, operate at pace, own follow-through, and keep multiple deals progressing in parallel
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively across the region
- Excellent written and spoken English
Your key attributes
- French — a significant advantage for our Francophone markets
- Experience in fintech, payments, mobile money, telco/MNO, energy/utilities, or BNPL/credit products
- An existing network across African telecoms, banking or energy sectors
- Already based in South Africa, with the ability to travel extensively across African markets
Why you should apply
- A high-impact role reporting to senior leadership, with real influence over how we grow
- Backed by a listed group (Optasia, JSE: OPA) — the stability of scale with the pace of a fast-growing business
- The chance to shape commercial expansion across multiple African markets from the ground up
Finergi is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds
Skills Required
- 10+ years commercial experience in business development, partnerships or key account management
- Proven track record of leading and closing complex B2B and government deals and managing senior stakeholder relationships
- Experience operating across African markets in multi-country, multi-stakeholder environments
- Strong relationship-building skills with executives, regulators and commercial partners
- Self-starter able to work independently, operate at pace, and manage multiple deals in parallel
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively across the region
- Excellent written and spoken English
- French language skills
- Experience in fintech, payments, mobile money, telco/MNO, energy/utilities, or BNPL/credit products
- Existing network across African telecoms, banking or energy sectors
- Already based in South Africa (with ability to travel extensively)
What We Do
We deliver Optasia, the AI Platform enabling financial access for the next billion customers. We are changing the world our way. Α versatile, data-driven B2B2X (business-to-business-to-customers and SMEs) financial technology platform for MNOs, mobile wallet operators and financial institutions, which provides them with accurate credit scoring for responsible financing decision-making. We support intelligent credit decisions, enable a broad range of financial services development and drive successful business models. All with ease, through our AI-led fully-automated decisioning algorithm, which allows us to efficiently make millions of decisions on financing, based on sophisticated data analysis. Thanks to our technology and network we provide powerful flywheel effects with repeatable and scalable growth levers, to help our partners grow and enable financial access to retail & SME customers across numerous markets. Operating since 2012 as Channel VAS and expanded in more than 35 countries in Africa, Middle East, Asia and LATAM with focus in emerging markets, Optasia Enabling credit decisions for an average of 116 million customers a month and had more than 980 million addressable subscribers in 2023, continuing to expand to new markets globally. Optasia has been chosen as an investment opportunity by top firms such as Abu Dhabi's Waha Capital in 2017, and Ethos, a leading South African investment company in late 2018. The company also obtained ISO 27001 Certification in late 2021. Founded as Channel VAS in 2012, we became Optasia in 2022, incorporating a brand identity that more broadly reflects our capabilities.
