— In May 2024, the African fintech platform OPay announced monthly profits, with nearly 10 million daily trading users.
This company, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Yahui Zhou, now holds 51% of the mobile payment market in Nigeria, serving over 50 million users and becoming one of the largest fintech companies in Africa and the Middle East.
01 Continuously expanding
In 2018, Yahui Zhou, who retired from the position of chairman of Kunlun Wanwei, with rich Internet experience and capital, founded OPay in Nigeria.
At the initial stage of its establishment, OPay followed China’s Internet model and launched four major segments, namely, mobile payment, motorcycle travel, food delivery and e-commerce. With capital support, the company quickly became a dark horse in the Nigerian Internet field.
However, this four pronged strategy quickly revealed problems. Later on, Yahui Zhou reflected and said, “At that time, I thought I couldn’t do this anymore. I figured it out and continued to work. If you raise so much money, one day you will have to repay it.
02 Key turning point
In April 2020, Yahui Zhou made two major decisions: to resign from the board of directors of Kunlun Wanwei and fully devote himself to OPay; Cut off all business lines outside of payments and refocus the company on fintech.
Any entrepreneurship cannot fail. Financing is like debt to me, and it must be repaid, “Yahui Zhou explained his decision in this way.
After strategic contraction, OPay began to focus on its core mobile payment business. Yahui Zhou spends 60% of his time on OPay’s daily operations, maintaining a rhythm of working from 7am to 12pm every day.
He personally participated in the development of key strategies and even directly communicated business details with local teams. This hands-on management style has greatly improved the organizational efficiency of OPay.
03 Focus on Growth
After strategic adjustments, OPay began to enter a phase of high-speed growth. By the end of 2020, the revenue from OPay’s payment business had increased several times compared to December 2019.
In 2021, OPay completed a $400 million Series C financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund, with a post investment valuation of $2 billion. This was the first investment by SoftBank Vision Fund in an African company and one of the largest single financings in the fintech sector in Africa at the time.
As of 2024, OPay has raised over $570 million in cumulative financing, with investors including well-known institutions such as Sequoia China, Meituan Dragon Ball, Source Code Capital, and IDG Capital.
These funds provide ample ammunition for OPay’s expansion in the African market.
04 Opportunities in Africa
The success of OPay cannot be separated from the unique market environment in Africa. About 95% of transactions in Nigeria are still completed in cash, and approximately 60 million adults do not have bank accounts.
The lack of such financial infrastructure provides enormous development space for mobile payments. Yahui Zhou keenly seized this opportunity: “Africa is a continent full of potential. Although its economy is relatively backward, the large number of young people and the increasing mobile phone access rate have brought great imagination space to essential services such as finance, transportation, and healthcare.
Nowadays, OPay’s business has expanded to markets such as Egypt and Pakistan. In July 2024, Mastercard announced a strategic partnership with OPay to support its launch of innovative banking services in the Egyptian market, further consolidating OPay’s leading position in the field of financial technology in Africa.
05 Future Challenges
Despite significant success, OPay still faces many challenges in the African market. Competitors such as PalmPay and Chipper Cash are also intensifying their layout. PalmPay, as a payment platform jointly launched by Transsion and NetEase, has also obtained a mobile currency operator license in Nigeria.
The Nigerian government has strengthened its regulation of fintech in recent years, which has raised higher requirements for OPay’s compliant operation. In addition, weak infrastructure, cultivation of user habits, and talent shortage are also constraining the development of the company.
Yahui Zhou maintains a clear understanding of this and defines OPay’s mission as “using technology to make financial services more accessible”, setting a long-term goal of serving 1 billion users and 10 million merchants by 2031.
An employee of a Chinese company working in Nigeria told local media: ‘It’s much more convenient to pay with OPay now than with cash, even street vendors are starting to accept OPay payments.’. It has changed our way of life. ”
From continuous expansion to focusing on core business, from near crisis to monthly profitability, Yahui Zhou and OPay staged a stunning entrepreneurial turnaround on the African continent.
This story is not only a successful case of Chinese entrepreneurs going abroad, but also a vivid interpretation of the entrepreneurial philosophy of “focusing on the core and creating value”.
Contact Info:
Name: Bob
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Organization: Opay
Website: https://www.opayweb.com/
Release ID: 89183170
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