PayPal, the worldwide funds platform, is partnering with Nigerian fintech Paga to lastly let Nigerians obtain worldwide funds, settle them in Naira, and absolutely entry its world funds community after twenty years of restricted service.
Paga sits on the intersection of wallets, retailers, and remittance compliance, and PayPal is betting that this construction can lastly assist inbound funds at scale after years of shutting out Nigerians from receiving funds, citing fraud considerations.
PayPal’s entry mirrors a broader shift in how world funds companies are approaching Nigeria: Visa investing in native cost rails, worldwide processors like AZA Finance’s BT Fee securing a funds service supplier licence to supply Naira collections, and American Categorical’s partnering with Flutterwave to broaden service provider acceptance.
For Paga, it is a full-circle second. “PayPal is what impressed Paga,” Tayo Oviosu, Founder and Group CEO of Paga, instructed TechCabal. “PayPal was an instance that I had in my thoughts, and I shared with individuals, like, , why can’t we construct a PayPal for Africa?”
Twenty years after PayPal shut Nigerians out, it’s returning by an organization constructed to handle that exclusion.
Throughout PayPal’s absence, Nigerian fintechs, together with Paga, Flutterwave, and Paystack, constructed strong native and cross-border infrastructure, plugging Nigeria into world funds.
Digital funds inside Nigeria totalled ₦1.07 quadrillion ($754.08 billion) in 2024, up from ₦600 trillion ($422.85 billion) in 2023, and reached ₦284.99 trillion ($200.85 billion) in Q1 2025 as cost rails continued to scale.
How the PayPal-Paga integration works
Below the partnership, Nigerian customers can hyperlink their PayPal accounts to their Paga wallets, obtain funds from greater than 200 nations, and withdraw funds immediately in Naira. Customers may also store globally at retailers that settle for PayPal whereas holding balances in {dollars} if they like.
Forex conversion will probably be achieved at willing-buyer, willing-seller charges, positioning the product as aggressive with present casual and crypto-based alternate options that Nigerians have relied on for years.
For retailers, the mixing opens entry to PayPal’s world community of greater than 400 million customers, permitting Nigerian companies settle for funds in as much as 25 currencies. As soon as funds are obtained, retailers can transfer cash by Paga for native settlement, spending through Visa playing cards, transferring to financial institution accounts, or paying payments and retailers inside Paga’s ecosystem.
The mixing additionally permits Nigerians obtain funds immediately from Venmo customers in the US, following Venmo’s current interoperability with PayPal.
“Anybody with a PayPal Nigeria account can now obtain cash from anyone utilizing Venmo within the U.S.,” Oviosu stated. “That is the first pockets for lots of people within the U.S. Now you can obtain your cash in PayPal and maintain it in {dollars} if you’d like.”
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises will proceed to onboard by PayPal’s service provider platform. As soon as a service provider is onboarded, they will obtain worldwide funds effectively after which transfer funds by Paga for native settlement.
“Over time, our objective is to make onboarding, settlement, and reconciliation much more seamless by constructing options that really feel absolutely built-in,” stated Otto Williams, Senior Vice President, Regional Head, and Basic Supervisor of PayPal Center East and Africa. “We anticipate so as to add extra options over time based mostly on the wants of Nigerian customers. Our focus is to ship entry that’s safe, compliant, and related to native realities relatively than merely replicating a world template.”
People with Paga accounts can hyperlink PayPal immediately, whereas enterprise homeowners can open particular person Paga accounts to attach PayPal enterprise profiles. Paga says merchant-level PayPal acceptance by its cost gateways is subsequent on the roadmap.
“The following part is opening this up absolutely on our service provider enterprise accounts,” Oviosu stated. “So companies can settle for PayPal immediately on our gateways and deal with bigger, business-sized transactions.”
Why now?
PayPal’s return to Nigeria comes after years of frustration and skepticism. In December 2025, stories that PayPal was in talks with African fintechs to launch a cross-border pockets platform sparked backlash, significantly from Nigerians who had spent years excluded from inbound funds.
PayPal shut out Nigerians and residents of a number of different nations, together with Ghana, in 2004, citing fraud considerations. That call sophisticated entry to world work for Nigerian freelancers and on-line companies for practically twenty years.
A 2014 partnership with First Financial institution, Nigeria’s oldest financial institution, solely enabled outbound funds. A later collaboration with Flutterwave, Africa’s largest funds infrastructure startup, in 2021 appeared promising however targeted strictly on companies, leaving people locked out of inbound flows as soon as once more.
PayPal argues that Nigeria’s digital financial system has now reached a stage of maturity the place cell wallets, immediate funds, and API-driven platforms can assist cross-border commerce at scale. The corporate says it selected Paga for its greater than 21 million customers, API infrastructure, and service provider ecosystem.
“Now we have been intentional about partnering with native innovators like Paga to develop options that assist Nigerians earn, spend, and develop,” Williams stated. “I used to be born and raised in Nigeria, so I’ve seen the potential firsthand. We’re right here to pay attention, be taught, and assist Nigeria’s digital financial system.”
What modifications now
In 2025, Paga processed ₦17 trillion ($11.98 billion) throughout 169 million transactions, and the corporate expects the PayPal partnership to considerably improve volumes, significantly from worldwide inflows.
“There may be a variety of demand,” Oviosu stated. “Individuals need entry to PayPal to allow them to earn and store globally with out counting on workarounds.”
For Nigeria, this brings much-needed {dollars} into the formal monetary ecosystem, bettering liquidity and strengthening the naira.
In 2024, PayPal processed 26.3 billion cost transactions and $1.68 trillion in complete cost quantity.
PayPal’s Nigeria entry additionally indicators a broader technique shift. In September 2025, the corporate dedicated $100 million to the Center East and Africa, alongside integrations with M-PESA in Kenya, CASHPLUS in Morocco, and TerraPay throughout the Center East and Africa. The corporate says it stays in talks with extra companions because it expands.
PayPal’s re-entry into Nigeria fixes entry flows by an area pockets that already understands how Nigerians transfer cash, however it doesn’t erase practically twenty years of exclusion.
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