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Selam fintech friends,
BNXN said it best on his track Back Outside: "I was at work, so I laid low."
Consider OPay’s story arc. Incubated by Opera and backed by SoftBank, the firm initially launched in Nigeria with a noisy super app strategy spanning ride hailing and food delivery. When those cash burning verticals faltered, OPay pivoted. It retreated from the spotlight and quietly rebuilt itself into a hyper efficient financial utility. Laid low we can say.
While traditional banks struggled under persistent downtime, cash shortages, and network failures, OPay built an agency network and an app boasting a 99%+ transaction success rate. Soon, users were saving, paying bills, and accessing micro-loans.
This week audited financial disclosures revealed in 2025, OPay processed $358 billion in gross transaction value a 115% surge, while revenue leaped 161% to $536.2 million, swinging the firm into a $72.5 million net profit. Even alongside fierce rivals like Moniepoint, Interswitch, and Flutterwave, OPay captured the pulse of Nigeria’s informal economy, which still drives 88% of its top line.
Now, the quiet period is over. OPay has assembled an elite syndicate, from Citigroup, Deutsche Bank to JPMorgan, to anchor a $4 billion public debut in New York.
It marks a monumental shift. Going public in the US will test whether Wall Street can accurately price high-velocity, low-margin emerging market rails navigating FX volatility. But when a Lagos born platform matures into the primary financial backbone for tens of millions of daily users, it no longer seeks validation.
That massive, unassailable volume is precisely the $358 Billion Reasons Wallstreet Is Watching.
— Jovin
Please find another week of fintech news below:
The Rundown
🚀 Product Launches
💸 Fundraises
Nigerian blockchain startup Blockops Network raised $250,000 pre-seed funding from Antler VC.
🗂️ Other News
NITDA accelerated the implementation of incentives under Nigeria’s Startup Act for tech entrepreneurs.
Flutterwave partnered with Caliza to enhance cross-border digital payments across global African markets.
The Central Bank of Nigeria opened a regulatory sandbox for fintech and virtual assets.
Standard Bank sought to expand its market share across Africa’s growing digital payments landscape.
Hubtel partnered with MMFL to support local financial technology innovators throughout Ghana.
Flutterwave partnered with AICL to expand digital payment infrastructure across Abuja, Nigeria.
SeerBit integrated PayPal to streamline cross-border trade transactions across the African continent.
Cauridor partnered with BnB to strengthen Sierra Leone's digital finance and payments ecosystem.
Kenyan crypto startups considered relocating offshore due to high regulatory compliance costs.
KoinKoin partnered with KuCoin Institutional to expand access to global cryptocurrency liquidity.
Blockchain.com joined the Nigerian SEC’s regulatory incubator program for digital asset platforms.
OPay's gross transaction value grew 115% to $358 billion in 2025 as the firm prepares for a potential US IPO.
Quote of the Week
TWIF FAQs
Which East African nation recently emerged as the continent's top hub for Bitcoin block reward mining, leveraging its massive hydroelectric infrastructure to draw hundreds of millions in data center investment?
(Find the answer at the sign off below)
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Before we wrap this up…
Did you guess which East African nation recently emerged as the continent's top hub for Bitcoin block reward mining?
The answer is Ethiopia. By leveraging cheap, abundant hydroelectric power primarily generated by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) the country has monetized its surplus energy grid, attracted tens of data center operators and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in power sales to become Africa's premier Bitcoin mining destination.
That’s all for today, friends. See you next Monday.
Asante.
