OPay aims to reach one billion users by 2031. Is this target attainable?

Last updated: July 22, 2026 9:19 am

In 2018, OPay entered Nigeria as a super app offering ride-hailing (ORide) and food delivery services, but a combination of market realities and government policies forced the company to pivot in 2020 and focus solely on fintech.

Since that pivot, OPay has become a household name in Nigerian fintech.

Nigerians will always remember OPay as the fintech that came to the rescue during the epic 2023 cash crunch, when legacy financial institutions struggled to meet the pressing demands that ensued. A report by renowned consulting firm KPMG revealed that about 58% of Nigerians switched to fintechs such as OPay, Palmpay, and Moniepoint.

OPay’s extensive network of Point-of-Sale (POS) agents, coupled with its seamless transfers and zero-transfer fees, helped strengthen the brand’s image.

This singular episode endeared OPay to many Nigerians, especially the millions of unbanked individuals in the informal economy, who now trust the fintech. Following this massive success, OPay is not resting on its laurels and intends to intensify its push to expand its market dominance.

The company’s chief commercial officer, Elizabeth Wang, says the next target for the fintech is to serve one billion users and create one million jobs by 2031.

Can OPay truly reach one billion users?

For context, no single African fintech has attained the one billion user mark. MPESA by Safaricom is the undisputed leader, serving over 70 million customers. OPay’s numbers place it in second place on this list.

Adedeji Olowe, CEO of Lendsqr, is in full agreement.

“Any company doing anything transformational will always have impossible goals,” Olowe notes. “Hard to say it would be impossible or not.”