Africa’s Biggest Bank Eyes OPay Stake Ahead of Planned $4bn US IPO
Quick Reads:
- Standard Bank Group is in early talks to acquire a stake in OPay Digital Services ahead of its planned New York IPO
- The Nigerian fintech is targeting a $4 billion valuation, double what it fetched in 2021
- OPay is working with Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase on the listing
- Discussions remain preliminary and may not result in a deal
- OPay turned profitable in 2025, with transaction values topping $358 billion
Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest lender by assets, is weighing a move that would put it inside one of Nigeria’s most closely watched fintech stories. The bank is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in OPay Digital Services before the payments company completes a planned initial public offering in the United States.
The Standard Bank OPay stake discussions are still at an early stage, and people familiar with the matter caution that the two companies have not reached an agreement. There’s no guarantee the transaction will go ahead. Still, the fact that talks are happening at all says something about how seriously Africa’s banking giants are now taking fintech competition rather than treating it as a threat to keep at arm’s length.
OPay, founded in 2018 and backed by SoftBank Group and Sequoia Capital, has quietly become one of the continent’s biggest financial platforms, serving as many as 50 million users through its network of green point-of-sale agents. The company is working with Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase to prepare a New York listing that could value it at around $4 billion, roughly double the $2 billion valuation it secured after a $400 million SoftBank-led round in 2021.
Neither company has commented publicly. OPay declined to comment, while Standard Bank said it does not respond to market speculation. The Standard Bank OPay stake move would come as the lender pushes to deepen its footprint in Nigeria, where it already operates through Stanbic IBTC. In June, Standard Bank disclosed plans to pour $15.4 billion into opportunities across Africa, with Nigeria named as a priority market.
The timing matters. OPay’s numbers have improved sharply ahead of any listing, swinging to a $72.47 million net profit in 2025 from a $50.9 million loss the year before. Transaction values more than doubled to $358 billion. That kind of growth is exactly what a bank looking for a foothold in Africa’s fastest-expanding fintech segment would want to lock in before a public listing pushes the price higher.
The broader backdrop is hard to ignore. Mobile-money operators across sub-Saharan Africa processed $1.4 trillion in transactions in 2025, equal to 66% of global mobile-money activity, and McKinsey estimates fintech revenue on the continent could reach $47 billion by 2028. For a traditional lender like Standard Bank, buying into OPay isn’t just about one company’s IPO. It’s a bet on where African finance is headed, and whether the old guard can keep a seat at the table as fintechs like OPay, Moniepoint and Kuda, all recently granted full national licenses by Nigeria’s central bank, reshape how millions of people move money.
Whether the Standard Bank OPay stake deal actually closes remains uncertain. But the talks alone mark a notable shift in how Africa’s biggest financial institutions are choosing to compete with, rather than simply watch, the continent’s fintech disruptors.
