PayPal Returns To Nigeria After 20 Years – This Time, Through Paga
PayPal is returning to Nigeria through a new partnership with fintech company Paga, allowing individuals and businesses to receive international payments, withdraw funds in naira, and access PayPal’s global network after nearly two decades of restricted service, TechCabal reports.
For the first time, Nigerians can receive PayPal funds directly into a locally regulated wallet at scale, rather than relying on workarounds and business‑only routes.
From bans to local partners
PayPal blocked Nigerians from receiving payments in 2004, citing fraud concerns, and for years offered only limited functionality. Nigerians could often send money or pay merchants abroad, but they could not receive funds directly into local accounts.
This new integration reflects a broader industry shift. Instead of reopening markets independently, global payment firms are relying on local partners to manage compliance, fraud controls, and settlement within domestic financial systems.
That local layer, in this case, is Paga. The company says it has processed ₦17 trillion (about $12 billion) across 169 million transactions in 2025 and reports more than 21 million users. By plugging into Paga’s wallet network, merchant base, and regulatory infrastructure, PayPal gains access to Nigeria’s payment rails without rebuilding them from scratch.
For context, PayPal processed 26.3 billion payment transactions and 1.68 trillion dollars in total payment volume globally in 2024.
Turning inbound dollars into a standard product
Under the partnership, Nigerian users can link PayPal to Paga wallets, receive payments from over 200 countries, withdraw instantly in naira, shop with global PayPal merchants, and optionally hold balances in dollars.
Currency conversion follows Nigeria’s willing-buyer, willing-seller rate, positioning the product as a regulated alternative to informal FX markets and crypto workarounds long used by Nigerians.
Nigerians can also receive money directly from US-based Venmo users through PayPal–Venmo interoperability. “[Venmo] is the primary wallet for a lot of people in the US,” said Tayo Oviosu, Paga’s founder and group CEO, speaking to TechCabal. “You can now receive your money in PayPal and keep it in dollars if you want.”
For merchants, the integration provides access to PayPal’s 400+ million users, supports payments in up to 25 currencies, and enables local settlement via Paga for bank transfers, Visa card spending, and bill payments.
