OPay
“Can a vertically-integrated, license-owning African neobank scale from Nigeria mobile money to a multi-market emerging-markets financial platform — and survive the regulatory scrutiny that comes with that scale?”
Founded 2018 as a Lagos-based mobile money and POS player serving Nigeria's unbanked population. Quickly expanded across Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia and became one of Africa's first fintech unicorns with the 2021 SoftBank-led Series C. Now operates as a vertically-integrated neobank running its own CBN-licensed microfinance bank, debit card issuance and POS acquiring network — distinct from the BaaS-dependent neobank model elsewhere in Africa. As of 2026 it is in IPO registration while simultaneously navigating Nigerian tax-authority enforcement actions.