After years of exit from the Nigerian market, PayPal has officially returned. The global payments giant had previously exited Nigeria, limiting the ability of local users to receive international payments.
Now through partnership with Paga, a Nigerian fintech, the payments company wants to enable global payments for Nigerians, marking a major step forward for the country’s digital payments ecosystem.
This announcement was made by Paga CEO, Tayo Oviosu, via a social media post, reflecting on a journey that began more than a decade ago. According to Oviosu, the partnership traces its roots back to August 2013, when he first reached out to PayPal at a time Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem was still in its early stages.
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In that initial outreach, he outlined a vision of Nigeria emerging as one of the world’s most important economies and proposed a collaboration in which Paga would power on-ramps and off-ramps between Nigeria and PayPal. The idea was to enable Nigerians to use PayPal globally and allow Nigerian merchants to accept PayPal payments locally. That vision has now become reality.
“This moment isn’t about a single announcement. It’s about patience. It’s about building robust, trusted local infrastructure. It’s about believing that global platforms scale better when they work with local systems, not around them. Partnerships like this don’t happen overnight. They are the result of years of conversations, trust-building, regulatory work, and showing up consistently”, Oviosu added.
Now, PayPal through Paga will unlock a capability that had long been unavailable to Nigerian users: the ability to receive International payments. Under the new arrangement, only Nigerian PayPal accounts that are linked to Paga are enabled to receive funds.
Users can link their PayPal Nigeria accounts directly within the Paga app. Once linked, the PayPal account functions as usual, but with the added ability to receive payments from more than 200 countries. Funds received through PayPal can be withdrawn at any time directly from within the Paga app, providing seamless access to international payments for individuals and businesses alike.
The partnership opens up significant opportunities across multiple segments. Gig workers can now receive international payments through PayPal, families can send money to loved ones in Nigeria using the platform, and Nigerian merchants can accept PayPal payments for goods and services.
With this integration, Nigerians are also able to make payments at over 30 million merchants worldwide where PayPal is accepted, further connecting the country to the global digital economy.
Several Nigerian netizens have expressed excitement at this news, describing it as a good news for Nigerian creatives.
Some reactions on X;
@omoalhajaabiola wrote,
“Man, this is an alpha for naija freelancers. Next level mooning. Congratulations oviosu”.
@jobaoloba wrote,
“This is LOUD!! Welldone oviosu. There are people building brick by brick for Nigeria to truly compete.”
@josealalade wrote,
“This is good news for Nigerian creatives.”
Notably, the partnership underscores Paga’s long-term strategy of building robust local financial infrastructure while connecting Nigerians to global commerce networks.
It also highlights growing confidence among global payment platforms in Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem and regulatory environment.
Outlook
The Paga–PayPal partnership is expected to accelerate Nigeria’s integration into the global digital economy, particularly for freelancers, SMEs, and creative professionals who rely on cross-border payments.
As Nigeria’s participation in the global digital economy continues to expand, this partnership may also inspire more international fintech platforms to re-engage with Nigeria, signalling growing investor confidence and a maturing environment.