PayPal has returned to Nigeria. That is good news. But beyond the headline lies a deeper lesson for any nation seeking economic greatness. PayPal did not return because a delegation of politicians travelled to Silicon Valley to “invite” it. No. It returned because Nigeria, especially the young people, built an ecosystem that made its absence too costly. When the opportunity cost of staying away exceeded the risk of coming in, PayPal quietly joined the party.
That is how global markets work. You build capacity, enforce standards, strengthen KYC, sanitize the rails, and one day the giants will notice. Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, shaped by pragmatic regulatory evolution and the relentless ingenuity of young people, has now matured enough for PayPal to say: “Yes, we can operate here.”
Of course, this entry will cause disruptions. Some startups in the payment-collection niche will feel the tremors. But that is the nature of markets.
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“Uwa bu ahia”(the world is a marketplace) says the Igbo Nation. When a people cannot participate in global commerce, something fundamental is broken. PayPal’s return ensures that millions of young Nigerians with talent, from graphic designers to software developers to creators, can now receive payments globally, turning the world itself into their marketplace.
Payment is the operating system of economic civilization. From cowries to barter, from gold coins to banknotes, humanity has always sought more efficient ways to exchange value. In 7th-century China, the Tang dynasty gave us paper money; the Song dynasty scaled it; the Mongols globalized it. That march toward frictionless exchange is unending with the evolutions of web payment APIs and digital money.
Today, with PayPal in Nigeria, via Paga, another door has opened. But beyond celebrating access, the bigger challenge remains: Do we have products and services the world truly wants to buy? Payment rails unlock opportunity, but entrepreneurs must fill those rails with value. Yes, go and build because the market is now global.
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