Paga is vying to be Africa’s next unicorn, and its mission is extending to North America. The Nigerian mobile payments company is looking to expand into Ethiopia as well as Mexico, where it could also facilitate payments for the millions who lack access to banking services.
A news report at The Washington Post confirms that 2022 is the company’s target for expansion into Ethiopia, which is Africa’s second-most populous nation. To expand its reach, Paga is counting on what it considers a game-changer of a deal with Visa Inc. “The agreement”, according to Washington Post, “will provide for merchant solutions in Nigeria from this month, allowing payments by money transfer and a QR code among others.”
The company, among its top investors, include U.S. billionaire investor Tim Draper and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economist Jim O’Neill, which currently boasts 17 million unique users. This includes tech entrepreneurs, businesses and individuals in Africa’s most populous nation.
According to Paga’s CEO, Tayo Oviosu the company processed $2.3 billion worth of transactions in 2020 and has done $8 billion in the last four years. Oviosu, who said in an interview, is certain that the company can reach a valuation of at least $1 billion in the next year or two.
Tech unicorns are an example of startups that have reached a valuation status of $1 billion or more. It’s very unlikely that the Nigerian companies catering to a large unbanked population revolutionize the way people transfer money and pay for goods and services. Few fintech companies such as Flutterwave and Interswitch have achieved this status.
Oviosu says that Paga has the significant potential to grow its revenue. The company has a network of 27,000 agents who effectively perform the functions of a bank teller. They register new customers for Paga accounts and help them process payments or put cash into a bank deposit. Paga is also making its programming interface available to tech entrepreneurs for payments while expanding its consumer business through the partnership with Visa.
The West African nation, where 60 million people are among the unbanked, is embracing the boom in fintech companies that are promoting inclusion through mobile payments. Many startups are concentrated in Yaba, a district in the commercial hub of Lagos that’s also attracted the likes of Facebook Inc. and Google.
The technology industry is also increasingly in favour of lenders in the economy of Africa’s biggest oil producer. The government has similarly taken notice, spending more on tech infrastructure to boost innovation and create jobs.
Given Paga’s growing business footprint and the prospects for additional fundraising, Oviosu thinks becoming a unicorn is only a matter of time.
“We are focused on making it simple for people to pay, get paid, shop and sell,” he said. “I know the runway to where we are projecting to be from where we are today.”
Chipper Cash, an African cross-border fintech startup recently joined the league of African Unicorns including Flutterwave, Interswitch, Fawry and Jumia
