OPay, a Chinese fintech company focused on Nigeria, is looking to go public in the US, Bloomberg reported.
It has engaged three banks, including JPMorgan, to prepare the process that would value the company at around $4 billion, according to the outlet. OPay’s digital banking app has rivaled services from commercial banks over the past two years, making the firm one of Nigeria’s best-known financial services companies.
OPay took off in 2019 with ambitions to be a super app that offered various features, including motorcycle taxi bookings, food deliveries, and quick loans. But a narrower focus on finance in recent years has coincided with a jump in its private valuation from $2 billion, when it raised $400 million in a round led by Softbank in 2021, to about $3 billion today.
A handful of African tech companies have successfully listed in the US, notably e-commerce platform Jumia and telecom towers provider IHS. An OPay listing in the US would be the first by a fintech company with a mostly Nigerian customer base.