OPay’s $4 Billion IPO: Nigeria Built the Market, But The Wealth is Going to US?
DA-X 9.5 · Business · By David Adeniji ·
OPay built enormous scale from Nigerian consumers and businesses and is reportedly considering a $4 billion US IPO. But if Nigeria created the market, why might the ownership opportunity happen elsewhere?
Today's Signal
OPay is reportedly exploring a potential $4 billion US IPO, after building a massive Nigerian payments business that accounted for 88.1% of its reported 2025 revenue.
Money Direction
Nigerian Consumers & Businesses → Digital Transactions → OPay Revenue & Profit → Company Valuation → Potential US IPO → Global Capital & Shareholders Meanwhile: OPay Network → POS Agents → Merchants → Workers → Technology & Support Services → Everyday Nigerian Commerce
Opportunity Areas
Digital payments, agency banking, merchant services, fintech infrastructure, payment technology, cybersecurity, software development, financial services, POS networks, SME digitisation and capital-market participation.
Skills Signal
Fintech product development, software engineering, cybersecurity, payments infrastructure, data analytics, compliance, fraud prevention, financial technology, sales, customer acquisition and digital financial operations.
Who Should Pay Attention
Fintech founders, investors, Nigerian capital-market operators, banks, technology professionals, software developers, POS operators, merchants, regulators, financial professionals and people building careers around digital payments.
Watching Next
Whether OPay actually proceeds with a US IPO, what valuation it eventually achieves, whether Nigerian investors get any practical route to participate—and what Nigeria must change to make its own capital market attractive enough for the next billion-dollar company built largely on Nigerian customers to consider listing at home.
Before OPay came, we prayed quietly each time we transferred money across banks: “Lord, let it not hang.” Market men and women insisted on cash. Bank apps showed us “shege”! 😊
Then entered OPay, quietly, riding the wave of inefficient bank transfers and the frustrations of a banking system that often made simple transactions become prayer points.
OPay changed the game. Cash became less attractive. ATM patronage declined, POS agents multiplied. Small businesses enjoyed instant payments. Customers became more confident in transfers that worked at any hour. Millions of Nigerians began carrying financial services in their phones.
And the fintech boom spread. OPay, Moniepoint and others grew into billion-dollar companies, right here in Nigeria.
OPay positioned itself right in the middle of this shift.
And the numbers are difficult to ignore. In 2025, OPay reportedly generated $536.25 million in revenue and swung from a $50.98 million loss in 2024 to about $72.47 million in net profit. Its gross transaction value more than doubled to $358 billion, while monthly active users rose to 39.3 million. Nigeria accounted for 88.1% of OPay’s 2025 revenue.
But the bigger story is what happened underneath.
OPay became infrastructure for everyday commerce: the roadside trader, small shop owner, POS operator, online seller and ordinary customer. It snatched a huge chunk of a market traditionally controlled by banks.
But now, here comes the irony.
After building enormous scale around Nigerian consumers and businesses, OPay is reportedly preparing for a potential $4 billion IPO in the United States—not Nigeria. Standard Bank is reportedly considering taking a stake ahead of the potential listing, although discussions are still at an early stage.
Now that money is about to move in in billions of dollars, why not Nigeria?
The uncomfortable question is: How did Nigeria become the market that created the customers, transaction volume and scale, yet potentially not the market where Nigerians get to own a piece of the company?
Why isn't Nigeria yet the market where companies built at this scale feel compelled to list?
Why? Can anyone explain this?
Sources
Nairametrics, BusinessDay, Bloomberg, Business Insider Africa