- Financial institution plans to take a position $200 million
- Nigerian operations account for 89.5% of Opay’s first-half yr earnings
Emmanuel Addeh, James Emejo in Abuja and Nume Ekeghe in Lagos
South Africa’s Same old Financial institution Staff is looking for to safe as much as a 4.99 in line with cent stake in Nigerian-focused fintech OPay for a most funding of $200 million, striking a significant African banking establishment on the centre of the virtual bills corporate’s proposed New York Inventory Alternate (NYSE) record.
The proposed funding comes as OPay’s monetary efficiency hurries up, with earnings greater than doubling within the first 1/2 of 2026 and web source of revenue emerging sharply, in keeping with its registration observation filed with the US Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC).
The transaction would give Same old Financial institution, which already operates in Nigeria via Stanbic IBTC Holdings, an fairness place in one of the crucial area’s greatest virtual monetary services and products platforms whilst probably opening new avenues for collaboration in bills, lending and cross-border transactions.
Stanbic Africa Holdings, a subsidiary of Same old Financial institution Staff, has signed a subscription settlement to obtain stocks via a personal placement along OPay’s preliminary public providing (IPO), topic to finishing touch of the providing and regulatory approvals.
Below the settlement disclosed in OPay’s Shape F-1 registration observation, the funding will likely be capped on the lowest of $200 million, 0.98 in line with cent of Same old Financial institution Staff’s qualifying regulatory capital, with the exception of unappropriated benefit, or the price of a 4.99 in line with cent hobby in OPay calculated on the IPO worth.
The submitting does now not reveal the collection of stocks to be introduced or the proposed worth vary.
Income, transaction volumes give a boost to funding case
OPay’s monetary disclosures supply a clearer image of the trade attracting the South African lender.
Income climbed to $536.3 million in 2025 from $205.7 million in 2024, whilst the corporate swung from a web lack of $50.8 million to a web benefit of $72.5 million over the length.
The momentum reinforced within the six months ended June 30, 2026, when earnings greater than doubled to $467.1 million from the related length a yr previous. Internet source of revenue rose to $90.9 million from $21.7 million.
The figures level to a fast enlargement in profits along the expansion of OPay’s bills and fiscal services and products trade, despite the fact that its dependence on Nigeria leaves it uncovered to tendencies within the nation’s regulatory and running surroundings.
Nigeria accounted for 89.5 in line with cent of OPay’s earnings within the first 1/2 of 2026, in keeping with the submitting.
The corporate reported 50.1 million per thirty days lively customers on the finish of July, whilst its gross transaction worth reached $339.1 billion within the first 1/2 of the yr. The latter measures the entire worth of bills, transactions and loans processed via its platform, quite than earnings earned from the ones actions.
OPay’s submitting additionally mentioned that its lively customers in Nigeria had been about 66.1 in line with cent of all lively customers of monetary packages tracked by way of app-monitoring corporate DataSparkle all over the primary 1/2 of 2026.
The dimensions of its Nigerian operations highlights each the economic alternative to be had to Same old Financial institution and the focus chance hooked up to the proposed funding.
Board illustration, broader trade ambitions
Past the fairness funding, Same old Financial institution is positioning itself for a deeper industrial courting with OPay.
The Same old Financial institution of South Africa is considered one of 4 representatives of the IPO underwriters, along Citigroup, Deutsche Financial institution and China World Capital Company. B Riley Securities and Needham & Corporate are performing as co-managers.
The submitting additional presentations that Leader Govt of Same old Financial institution’s Africa Areas trade and a former director-general of South Africa’s Nationwide Treasury, Lungisa Fuzile, will sign up for OPay’s board as a non-executive director as soon as the personal placement closes. Fuzile prior to now led Same old Financial institution South Africa between 2018 and 2024.
The corporations have additionally known alternatives to discover virtual banking services and products in African markets, distribute decided on Same old Financial institution merchandise via OPay’s utility and service provider community, and collaborate on service provider obtaining, bills, lending, remittances and collectively evolved monetary merchandise.
Then again, the proposed collaboration stays non-binding. A memorandum of figuring out signed on August 14 does now not compel both birthday party to put into effect any specific initiative, with person tasks requiring definitive agreements and regulatory approvals.
Same old Financial institution Staff Leader Govt, Sim Tshabalala, stated the financial institution’s banking experience and African footprint complemented OPay’s virtual monetary services and products platform and service provider ecosystem, growing attainable to amplify get entry to to monetary services and products and improve cross-border trade.
The proposed funding is in keeping with Same old Financial institution’s broader enlargement technique, which the crowd defined at its fresh capital markets day.
IPO places regulatory publicity in center of attention
OPay has implemented to record American depositary stocks at the NYSE underneath the proposed ticker image OPAY. Those securities constitute pursuits within the corporate’s extraordinary stocks.
The providing’s valuation and ultimate measurement remained undisclosed within the registration observation regardless that previous reviews cited a possible valuation of about $4 billion.
Then again, the submitting does now not identify that determine because the IPO valuation.
Based in 2017 by way of Zhou Yahui, often referred to as James Zhou, in collaboration with Norwegian internet browser corporate Opera, OPay introduced its Nigerian bills operations in 2018 after obtaining an area monetary services and products supplier.
The corporate therefore expanded into Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan. In 2021, it raised $400 million in a investment spherical led by way of SoftBank Imaginative and prescient Fund 2 at a reported valuation of $2 billion.
Ahead of the proposed providing, Zhou held 21.3 in line with cent of OPay, Opera owned 8.6 in line with cent and SoftBank held 6.6 in line with cent, in keeping with the submitting.
In spite of its enlargement, OPay has known regulatory intervention as a subject material chance, caution that government in its running markets may impose brief restrictions or droop the onboarding of recent shoppers.
Such measures may have an effect on person acquisition, transaction enlargement and profits, in particular given the corporate’s heavy reliance on Nigeria.
For Same old Financial institution, the proposed stake represents greater than an funding in a fast-growing fintech, providing a possible direction into an infinite virtual bills community, whilst tying a part of that chance to the fortunes of Nigeria’s monetary services and products marketplace and the regulatory stipulations governing its enlargement.