Revenue up 137% to $467 million. Net income up by over 300% to $91 million. Those are the first-half 2026 figures OPay put in a filing ahead of a planned New York listing, which Semafor reported is likely set for next month.
OPay is based in Lagos and backed by Softbank and Chinese billionaire Zhou Yahui. Per the filing, lending has overtaken payments as its biggest source of income. The company has applied to trade under the ticker OPAY, and a secondary listing in Nigeria may follow.
No price range or listing date had been disclosed when Semafor went to press. Going by the usual run of filings and roadshows, investors should expect pricing in mid-November. Earlier reports put the initial valuation estimate around $4 billion.
Standard Bank steps in
A tie-up with Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest lender by assets, sits at the centre of the offering. Its subsidiary, Stanbic Africa Holdings, has agreed to invest up to $200 million. A formula caps its stake at 4.99% of OPay after the offering. Lungisa Fuzile, Standard Bank’s Africa head, is expected to join OPay’s board once the IPO is done.
The two companies also signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to explore joint work on payments, merchant acquisition, lending, remittances and the distribution of selected banking and financial products. In the filings, OPay suggested it will lean on Standard Bank’s infrastructure, regulatory expertise and presence to grow across Africa.
A Lagos listing with strings
OPay plans to list on the Nigeria Stock Exchange after its NYSE debut, so local investors can buy into a business that earns nearly nine-tenths of its revenue in Nigeria. The F-1 filing carries a warning, though. Shares traded in Lagos may not be exchangeable for the American depositary shares listed in New York, which could limit liquidity and let the two prices drift apart.
From super app to finance
OPay started in Nigeria in 2018 as a payments company backed by Chinese investors, and venture investors led by Softbank funded it later. In 2019 it took off with ambitions as a super app, offering motorcycle taxi bookings, food deliveries and quick loans. In recent years it narrowed its focus to financial services. It raised $570 million in venture funds between 2018 and 2021.
A handful of African tech companies have listed in the US, among them e-commerce platform Jumia and telecom towers provider IHS, though their performances have been mixed. An OPay listing would be the first by a fintech company with a mostly Nigerian customer base.
