Opay’s Listing Signals Fintech’s Shift from Venture Capital to Public Market
THE proposed dual listing of Opay Digital Services Limited (Opay) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGXE) may represent a new era of capitalization dynamics for Nigerian financial technology companies, shifting their focus from venture capital to public markets.
Opay, a payment company serving over 40 million customers, is seeking a $4 billion primary listing on the NYSE and a secondary listing on the NGX.
According to information obtained from different sources, Opay has raised over $570 million across three funding rounds 2019. The company raised $50 million in July 2019 in Series A funding, $120 million in November of the same year in Series B funding and $400 million in in August 2021 in Series C funding.
Though venture capital funding has been declining across African in recent times due to investors’ fatigue, fintech companies and technology startups in Nigeria generally have always focused on international venture capital companies through which they still raised over $438 million in 2025.
Since the funding wave began over a decade ago, none of them has sought a public listing in Nigeria leaving only the telecom giants (like MTN and Airtel) and a few service providers as the only technology companies on the NGX.
Analysts believe that the Opay listing will herald the entry of key payment rivals like Moneypoint, Palmpay, Flutterwave in a development that could deepen the technology content of the Nigerian stock market.
The NGX still largely reflects the presence of traditional businesses with oil exploration firms, cement companies, food processors and banks representing its elite category.
Though many emerging markets are largely dominated by traditional companies, large cap markets like the United state and China are led by technology stocks in what is generally seen as an indication of business and economic direction in those countries.
