Tech in Africa
Nigerian fintech Opay is planning to expand its payments services into North Africa indicating a slight shift from an earlier intention to enter Kenya and Ghana markets. The Softbank backed startup will be expanding its services to North Africa next year after a rapid increase in transactional volumes this year – largely prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Monthly trading volumes rose were to $1.4 billion in November, a fourfold rise from $363 million in January.
2022 has seen an astronomical rise in the African fintech segment as people opt for alternative payment services during Covid-19 lockdowns. According to a media interview on Bloomberg by Nigeria Country head Iniabasi Akpan, the target is to reach $2 billion by year’s end and leverage its network of 300,000 offline agents.
China’s Meituan is also one of its shareholders. The company achieved financial self-sufficiency in June and is fully geared for any future expansion. We earlier covered how Africa Fintech startup raised $120m in a Serie B round led by Chinese investors.
