PayPal returns to Nigeria after two decades. This time through Paga

PayPal, the global payments platform, is partnering with Nigerian fintech Paga to finally let Nigerians receive international payments, settle them in Naira, and fully access its global payments network after two decades of limited service.

Paga sits at the intersection of wallets, merchants, and remittance compliance, and PayPal is betting that this structure can finally support inbound payments at scale after years of shutting out Nigerians from receiving payments, citing fraud concerns. 

PayPal’s entry mirrors a broader shift in how global payments firms are approaching Nigeria: Visa investing in local payment rails, international processors like AZA Finance’s BT Payment securing a payments service provider licence to offer Naira collections, and American Express’s partnering with Flutterwave to expand merchant acceptance.

For Paga, this is a full-circle moment. “PayPal is what inspired Paga,” Tayo Oviosu, Founder and Group CEO of Paga, told TechCabal. “PayPal was an example that I had in my mind, and I shared with people, like, you know, why can’t we build a PayPal for Africa?”

Two decades after PayPal shut Nigerians out, it is returning through a company built to address that exclusion.

During PayPal’s absence, Nigerian fintechs, including Paga, Flutterwave, and Paystack, built robust local and cross-border infrastructure, plugging Nigeria into global payments. 

Digital payments within 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 payment rails continued to scale.

How the PayPal-Paga integration works

Under the partnership, Nigerian users can link their PayPal accounts to their Paga wallets, receive payments from more than 200 countries, and withdraw funds instantly in Naira. Users can also shop globally at merchants that accept PayPal while keeping balances in dollars if they prefer.

Currency conversion will be done at willing-buyer, willing-seller rates, positioning the product as competitive with existing informal and crypto-based alternatives that Nigerians have relied on for years.

For merchants, the integration opens access to PayPal’s global network of more than 400 million users, allowing Nigerian businesses accept payments in up to 25 currencies. Once funds are received, merchants can move money through Paga for local settlement, spending via Visa cards, transferring to bank accounts, or paying bills and merchants within Paga’s ecosystem.

The integration also enables Nigerians receive payments directly from Venmo users in the United States, following Venmo’s recent interoperability with PayPal.

“Anyone with a PayPal Nigeria account can now receive money from anybody using Venmo in the U.S.,” Oviosu said. “This is the primary wallet for a lot of people in the U.S. You can now receive your money in PayPal and keep it in dollars if you want.”

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises will continue to onboard through PayPal’s merchant platform. Once a merchant is onboarded, they can receive international payments efficiently and then move funds through Paga for local settlement.

“Over time, our goal is to make onboarding, settlement, and reconciliation even more seamless by building solutions that feel fully integrated,” said Otto Williams, Senior Vice President, Regional Head, and General Manager of PayPal Middle East and Africa. “We expect to add more features over time based on the needs of Nigerian users. Our focus is to deliver access that is secure, compliant, and relevant to local realities rather than simply replicating a global template.”

Individuals with Paga accounts can link PayPal directly, while business owners can open individual Paga accounts to connect PayPal business profiles. Paga says merchant-level PayPal acceptance through its payment gateways is next on the roadmap.

“The next phase is opening this up fully on our merchant business accounts,” Oviosu said. “So businesses can accept PayPal directly on our gateways and handle larger, business-sized transactions.”

Why now?

PayPal’s return to Nigeria comes after years of frustration and skepticism. In December 2025, reports that PayPal was in talks with African fintechs to launch a cross-border wallet platform sparked backlash, particularly from Nigerians who had spent years excluded from inbound payments.

PayPal shut out Nigerians and citizens of several other countries, including Ghana, in 2004, citing fraud concerns. That decision complicated access to global work for Nigerian freelancers and online businesses for nearly two decades.

A 2014 partnership with First Bank, Nigeria’s oldest bank, only enabled outbound payments. A later collaboration with Flutterwave, Africa’s largest payments infrastructure startup, in 2021 appeared promising but focused strictly on businesses, leaving individuals locked out of inbound flows once again.

PayPal argues that Nigeria’s digital economy has now reached a level of maturity where mobile wallets, instant payments, and API-driven platforms can support cross-border commerce at scale. The company says it chose Paga for its more than 21 million users, API infrastructure, and merchant ecosystem.

“We have been intentional about partnering with local innovators like Paga to develop solutions that help Nigerians earn, spend, and grow,” Williams said. “I was born and raised in Nigeria, so I have seen the potential firsthand. We are here to listen, learn, and support Nigeria’s digital economy.”

What changes now

In 2025, Paga processed ₦17 trillion ($11.98 billion) across 169 million transactions, and the company expects the PayPal partnership to significantly increase volumes, particularly from international inflows.

“There is a lot of demand,” Oviosu said. “People want access to PayPal so they can earn and shop globally without relying on workarounds.”

For Nigeria, this brings much-needed dollars into the formal financial ecosystem, improving liquidity and strengthening the naira.

In 2024, PayPal processed 26.3 billion payment transactions and $1.68 trillion in total payment volume.

PayPal’s Nigeria entry also signals a broader strategy shift. In September 2025, the company committed $100 million to the Middle East and Africa, alongside integrations with M-PESA in Kenya, CASHPLUS in Morocco, and TerraPay across the Middle East and Africa.  The company says it remains in talks with additional partners as it expands.

PayPal’s re-entry into Nigeria fixes access flows through a local wallet that already understands how Nigerians move money, but it doesn’t erase nearly two decades of exclusion.