OPay has suspended plans to raise $300 million through a public listing in the United States following regulatory inquiries from Chinese authorities, throwing the fintech company’s much-anticipated stock market debut into uncertainty.
The decision reportedly came only hours after the company had finalised the pricing of its proposed initial public offering (IPO), according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the development.
The regulatory concerns are said to be linked to OPay founder Zhou Yahui, a Chinese businessman, rather than the company’s business activities in China. Interestingly, OPay has no operations or revenue in the Asian country.
Zhou is also the founder of Kunlun Tech, a Chinese technology company that previously owned popular dating platform Grindr. He was also involved in a group of investors that acquired a stake in Norwegian technology firm Opera Ltd. in 2016.
The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission had not publicly responded to the development at the time of the report.
The setback raises fresh questions about the extent to which Chinese authorities can influence the international business interests of their citizens, even when the companies involved operate outside China.
OPay had been targeting a valuation of approximately $4 billion from the proposed US listing, a move that could have marked a major milestone for Africa’s technology and fintech industry.
The suspension is particularly significant for Nigeria, which serves as the company’s biggest market despite its Singapore headquarters. Nigeria generated 88.1 per cent of OPay’s total revenue in 2025, making the country central to its financial performance.
Over the years, the company has expanded its Nigerian operations beyond ordinary transfers and payment services, offering customers a wider range of digital financial products.
By March 2026, around 70 per cent of its monthly active wallet users in Nigeria were reportedly using more than five services within its platform, showing how deeply the company has expanded into different areas of digital finance.
OPay currently has approximately 50 million monthly active users across its markets, including Nigeria, Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan.
However, the halt to its planned IPO could complicate its immediate fundraising ambitions at a time when African technology companies are still struggling with reduced investor funding and a slowdown in venture capital activity.
For now, attention will be on whether OPay can resolve the regulatory concerns and revive its proposed US listing, which had the potential to become one of the major fundraising events involving an Africa-focused fintech company.
