The Afropolitan show recently hosted Tayo Oviosu, a co-founder and leader recognized as a "triple OG in this business," to discuss how he built Paga into a behemoth in African finance, driven by a clear vision that sending money in Nigeria should be "as easy as sending a text". Oviosu founded the company after personally struggling with basic transactions in Nigeria—carrying cash everywhere, dealing with non-functional cards and ATMs—leading him to realize that if a phone signal was available, electronic money could be sent via text. His goal was to make financial services an "afterthought for all Africans". Paga now serves 23 million customers and has processed approximately $8.7 trillion in transactions. The decision to return to Nigeria, which Oviosu left at 16, was motivated by a deep belief in the potential of Africa and Nigeria to be a "powerhouse in the world".
Oviosu, an alumnus of Stanford Business School, faced immense pressure when peers already "on ground" in Nigeria advised him, "don't" return. It took three years, conversations with South African entrepreneurs who convinced him that things in Nigeria had changed "dramatically," and a moment of reflection while meditating in Bhutan, for him to decide firmly: "if I don't do it now, I'm probably never going to do it". Oviosu ultimately returned because he wanted to "play some role in seeing this happen" and bring economic development to society.
Paga’s long-term strategy, which has allowed it to weather all seasons, consciously rejected the high-burn, Silicon Valley "growth" model, which Oviosu believes is "the wrong model for Africa". The number one thing he had to unlearn from Silicon Valley was pouring money into growth without thinking about sustainability. Paga, which he views as a "purpose-built business," decided in 2014 to become profitable and grow sustainably, choosing not to "slash and burn" its staff. This philosophy requires patient capital and a long-term mindset, with Oviosu suggesting that a holding company structure, like those favored by successful Nigerian entrepreneurs such as Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu, is more appropriate than the typical 10-year venture capital fund model. He advises new founders to raise "just enough" capital at a lower valuation early on to maintain less stress and avoid over-raising, arguing it's better to raise at an $8 million valuation and aim for a $40 million valuation later, than raise at $40 million and be forced to aim for $200 million just to generate the same 5x return for early investors.
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The company’s early success was rooted in serving the unbanked mass market. Due to initial regulatory hurdles that prevented digital identity verification (pre-BVN/NIN), Paga strategically leveraged the existing community trust found in local Nigerian provision store owners, known as 'Baba,' who already extend credit within their communities. Paga trained these individuals to become agents, enabling residents to deposit money, pay electricity bills, or make other transactions without sitting in traffic for hours to reach a banking hall. This model, where the agent performs the transaction directly for the customer, was a global first for Paga and helped build the brand "ground up" through community trust, saving significantly on marketing spend. This agent network is estimated to have created "almost 200,000 jobs" directly and indirectly.
To remain competitive against rising fintechs like Flutterwave and Paystack, Paga recently underwent a significant pivot, opening its entire internal infrastructure to other companies to build on top of, calling this new enterprise arm Paga Engine. All services offered through Paga Engine are "co-created with a readymade client," ensuring immediate demand and relevance. Furthermore, Paga is now pursuing a strategy to offer "global banking" to all Africans, announcing its expansion into the U.S. as the first step toward global financial rails. This launch targets the African diaspora, people living in both worlds, and those who have recently moved (Japa), offering US digital banking with FDIC-insured accounts and easy transaction capability between the U.S. and Nigeria.
Oviosu attributes his ability to navigate Nigeria's complex regulatory landscape to building a relationship of "trusted adviser" with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He advises founders in regulated businesses to stay engaged with the regulator, even showing up in Abuja with "no agenda". He believes the CBN is "very fair" and will "listen to you".
The ultimate mission of Paga has evolved; Act One focused on "making life possible" for Africans but Act Two is centered on enabling them to thrive, allowing them to "live boldly wherever" by providing global financial rails. Despite the "uncomfortable truth" that the consumer’s earning power and ability to pay for quality products is "much lower than it seems publicly" in Nigeria, Paga continues to process over a billion dollars every month. The long-term approach, rooted in "discipline, quality, and sustainability," is focused on ensuring the company can "control our own destiny".
