Opay plans North Africa move after 3 Years in Nigeria

Opay, an Opera-owned Nigerian fintech start-up has recently announced its planned moved to North Africa to commence its operation in 2021.

This is coming after the startup recorded an increase of $1.4bn in transactions in November following a $363m in January 2020.

According to Iniabasi Akpan, Opay’s Country Manager for Nigeria, who spoke about the development said:

“The process has begun, and we will see how the first quarter turns out. We plan to reach a transaction value of about $2bn by the end of this year.”

In 2019, Opay proposed plans of expansion to Ghana, Kenya and South Africa in 2020, however, the advent of the Covid-19 changed the narrative for the fintech startup.

Opay has also launched a new product called “Credit Me”, a product that offers digital overdrafts from 5,000 to 100,000 naira to individuals with a constant source of income while providing them a period of 30-day repayment.

Background

In 2018, Opera launched Opay, its mobile money platform in Lagos. In 2019, the Norwegian-based but Chinese owned company sent a shock wave around the African tech ecosystem, when it secured $170 million in VC to back up Opay.

The raised fund was nearly up to one-fifth of all funding secured for African startups in 2018.

Opera used this raised fund to develop a huge suite of internet-based products in Nigeria while operating on Opay.

Opera has tested some services in Nigeria, however, in July, a number of them were put on hold or shut down, including all its ride-hailing platform and delivery services, mainly due to the pandemic.

From the volume of transaction, it made within January to November, the startup is ready to explore the North African market.

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