Two weeks after OPay abandoned what would have been one of the largest US listings by an African fintech, the Nigerian payments company still has not named the regulator that derailed the deal, and pressure is building at home for answers.
What happened
OPay priced 16 million American depositary shares at $19 each on Friday, October 30, raising about $304 million and valuing the company at roughly $4 billion. Its executives rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange that day. But the NYSE halted the stock at about 3:30 p.m. pending news, and not a single share under the ticker OPAY ever traded (CIO Africa; Asia Times).
In a statement, the SoftBank-backed company said it and its underwriters had “mutually agreed to terminate” their October 29 underwriting agreement because of “a regulatory inquiry relating to a jurisdiction immaterial to the Company’s business operations.” OPay said “not proceeding with the offering at this time would be the most prudent course of action” and that it was “confident that the inquiry will be concluded satisfactorily in the near future” (CIO Africa).
The China question
On November 4, Bloomberg reported that inquiries from China’s securities regulator prompted the halt, citing people familiar with the matter. Those people said OPay has no operations or revenue in China and that its link to the country is its founder, Chinese billionaire Zhou Yahui (Bloomberg Law). OPay has not confirmed this.
The prospectus had addressed the issue directly. OPay said it did not need approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) under China’s 2023 overseas listing rules because it earned no revenue in mainland China in 2025 and its assets, operations and senior managers are outside the mainland, as TechCabal detailed. It also acknowledged uncertainty over how those rules could be applied.
Nigerian lawmakers step in
Nigeria’s House of Representatives has called for federal intervention, with lawmakers describing “regulatory complications arising from claims about OPay’s alleged Chinese corporate status,” according to bne IntelliNews. Talks between OPay and the CSRC were reported to be continuing.
What it means for customers
OPay has said the inquiry has no impact on its operations, regulatory standing or services in Nigeria or its other markets. An inquiry does not establish wrongdoing, and the halted IPO is not a sign of an operational failure. For the millions of Nigerians who use OPay for transfers, bills and POS cash, the app works as before.
For African tech more broadly, the episode is a warning. Founders and investors with ties to China now face questions about whether Beijing’s overseas listing rules can reach companies that do no business there. OPay has given no new timeline for another listing attempt.
