Opay Digital Services Ltd., one of Nigeria’s leading digital payments platforms, has engaged top Wall Street banks Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan Chase to prepare for an initial public offering in the United States, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The SoftBank backed company is targeting a valuation of approximately $4 billion for the listing, which could take place later in 2026. This would represent a significant premium to its previous $2 billion valuation from a 2021 Series C funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund and a step up from an implied valuation of around $3.1 billion at the end of 2025.
Opay operates as a fintech “super app” in Nigeria, offering mobile money transfers, bill payments, merchant services, debit cards, and other financial products. The Lagos-based platform has experienced rapid growth in Africa’s largest economy, benefiting from the expansion of digital payments amid limited banking infrastructure. Reports indicate Opay has surpassed 20 million daily active users in recent periods, with strong transaction volumes and progress toward sustained profitability.
The company has raised roughly $570 million to date, with SoftBank as a prominent investor alongside others such as Meituan, Source Code Capital, and IDG Capital. Early backer Opera, the Norwegian browser company that helped incubate Opay, recently valued its stake in a way that implied an enterprise value of about $3.1 billion for the fintech.
A US listing would mark a notable milestone for African fintech and provide Opay with access to deeper capital markets and global investor interest in high-growth payments businesses. It would also follow SoftBank’s recent successful US IPO of its Japanese payments unit PayPay earlier in March 2026.
Details of the offering size, exact timeline, and final valuation remain subject to market conditions and regulatory approvals. No formal SEC filing has been disclosed yet, and the plans are still in early preparation stages.
The hiring of three major global banks signals Opay’s serious intent to pursue a Nasdaq listing and reflects growing confidence in the maturation of profitable or near-profitable African tech companies.
Opay did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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