OPay Raises $304M as It Starts Trading in New York

OPay, the payments app that millions of Nigerians use for transfers, bills and savings, is now a New York-listed company. Its American depositary shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, 30 October, under the ticker OPAY, after the company priced its offering at $19 a share, according to its pricing announcement. It sold 16 million shares, raising $304 million and valuing the company at about $4 billion, CNBC Africa reports.

That is the bottom of the $19 to $21 range OPay set on 23 October, when TheStak reported the price range for its NYSE listing. At the top of the range the deal would have raised $336 million. The offering is expected to close on 2 November, and the underwriters have 30 days to buy up to 2.4 million more shares.

Who bought, and who sold it

Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and The Standard Bank of South Africa ran the books, with B. Riley Securities and Needham as co-managers; Renaissance Capital also lists China's CICC as a bookrunner. Before pricing, existing and new investors had said they intended to buy $270 million of the shares, about 84% of the deal, and Standard Bank planned a separate private placement of up to $200 million alongside the IPO, Renaissance Capital reported. SoftBank-linked entities owned 6.6% of OPay before the offering.

Pricing at the bottom of the range points to a careful market rather than a rush. Arbiterz notes that inflation, market volatility and a sell-off in AI stocks have weighed on investor sentiment this month.

Related · StartupsOPay Sets a $19 to $21 Price Range for Its NYSE ListingThe Nigerian fintech plans to raise up to $336m in New York, a listing that would value it at about $4.4bn at the top of its range.

The numbers OPay is selling

OPay booked $806 million in revenue in the 12 months to 30 June 2026, according to Renaissance Capital's summary of its filing. In a statement on listing day, chief financial officer James Perry said the company reached a $1 billion annual revenue run rate in the second quarter, grew 137% year on year in the first half of 2026 and earned a 19% net margin. He said the money raised will go into technology to grow in Nigeria and other African markets.

• Users: more than 50 million across Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia, the company says; about 50 million monthly active users as of 31 July, per its prospectus.
• Payments: $358 billion in gross transaction value in 2025, up from $166.2 billion in 2024, Nairametrics reports.
• Reach: Nigeria's number two app across all categories by daily active users as of 31 July, according to its filing as summarised by Renaissance Capital.
• Revenue: $806 million in the 12 months to June 2026.

Co-chief executive Stephen Wen said more than 60% of Nigerians are underserved by traditional banks and rely on cash, which is the gap OPay is built to fill. That is the company's own framing, and it is also its risk: almost all of the story investors are buying is a Nigerian story, priced in dollars and exposed to the naira.

The Lagos listing still to come

OPay's board and shareholders approved a secondary listing on the Nigerian Exchange after the New York debut, Nairametrics reports, which would let Nigerian investors buy into the company most of them already use. The Securities and Exchange Commission in Abuja has gone further: its director-general, Emomotimi Agama, said a local listing is non-negotiable because OPay earns its revenue from Nigerians. No date for the Lagos listing has been announced.