PayPal Returns to Nigeria Through Paga After Two Decades
TLDR
- PayPal partners with Nigerian fintech Paga for international payments and naira settlement
- Users can link PayPal accounts to Paga wallets and receive payments from over 200 countries
- Merchants gain access to PayPal's network of 400 million users for transactions
PayPal is partnering with Nigerian fintech Paga to allow Nigerians receive international payments, settle funds in naira, and access PayPal’s global network after nearly 20 years of restricted service.
Under the partnership, users can link PayPal accounts to Paga wallets, receive payments from more than 200 countries, and withdraw instantly in naira. Users may also keep balances in dollars and spend globally at merchants that accept PayPal. Currency conversion will follow willing-buyer, willing-seller rates.
For merchants, the integration opens access to PayPal’s network of more than 400 million users, enabling acceptance in up to 25 currencies with local settlement through Paga. Funds can be spent via cards, transferred to bank accounts, or used within Paga’s ecosystem. The setup also enables Nigerians receive payments from Venmo users in the United States.
PayPal had excluded Nigerians from inbound payments since 2004, citing fraud risks. During that period, local firms built cross-border infrastructure. Nigeria’s digital payments reached ₦1.07 quadrillion in 2024 and ₦284.99 trillion in Q1 2025.
PayPal said Nigeria’s payments maturity and Paga’s scale, compliance, and APIs supported the move.
Key Takeaways
PayPal’s return reflects a shift in how global payment firms approach Nigeria. Instead of standalone entry, PayPal is embedding into local wallets that already manage compliance, merchants, and settlement at scale. The move follows similar strategies across the market, including card networks investing in local rails and processors securing licenses for naira collections. For Nigeria, inbound PayPal flows channel foreign earnings into the formal system, supporting liquidity and currency stability. For Paga, the partnership closes a loop. Built during PayPal’s absence, it now acts as the gateway PayPal lacked. In 2025, Paga processed ₦17 trillion across 169 million transactions, positioning it to absorb new inflows. The deal does not erase years of exclusion, but it changes access. Nigerians can now earn, shop, and settle globally without workarounds. The test will be execution: onboarding speed, pricing, and reliability. If it holds, the partnership may reset how global platforms expand in frontier markets—through local infrastructure, not around it.
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