PayPal come back to Nigeria and has expanded access to its services in Nigeria through a partnership with local fintech Paga, allowing individuals to receive international payments and withdraw funds in naira after years of limited functionality in the country.
The integration was announced by Tayo Oviosu, Paga’s founder and group chief executive, who said he first proposed a partnership with PayPal in 2013, when Nigeria’s online payments market was still in its early stages.
Under the arrangement, users can link their PayPal accounts to Paga wallets, receive money from abroad at scale and view PayPal balances directly within the Paga app. Funds can be converted at willing buyer willing seller rates and withdrawn locally, while users also have the option to keep balances in dollars for online purchases where PayPal is accepted.
The setup also enables Nigerians to receive money from Venmo users in the United States through PayPal’s global network, widening access to peer‑to‑peer transfers from abroad.
PayPal had restricted Nigerian accounts to “send only” status from around 2004, citing fraud and compliance concerns. Subsequent steps, including a 2014 tie‑up with First Bank and a 2021 collaboration with Flutterwave, improved outbound payments and merchant acceptance but left most individuals unable to receive funds directly.
The latest move marks PayPal’s most significant expansion of inbound payments for Nigerian users to date.
The return comes as global payments firms increasingly rely on local rails to navigate regulatory and operational hurdles in emerging markets. Paga said it processed about 17 trillion naira across 169 million transactions in 2025 and now has more than 21 million users.
Nigeria’s broader digital payments market has also been growing rapidly. Transaction value rose to 1.07 quadrillion naira in 2024 from 600 trillion naira in 2023, and reached 284.99 trillion naira in the first quarter of 2025.
In December 2025, PayPal said it was in talks with Nigerian fintech companies under PayPal World, an interoperability programme designed to connect PayPal with local wallets in key markets.