Economy
PayPal Now Accessible to Nigerians After Historic Deal With Paga
By Adedapo Adesanya
American multinational financial technology company, PayPal, will now allow Nigerians to receive payments on its platform through a partnership with local fintech firm Paga, after decades of restrictions.
The development was disclosed by Paga’s founder, Mr Tayo Oviosu, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) announcing the long-awaited collaboration.
The partnership comes nearly 13 years after Mr Oviosu first reached out to PayPal with a proposal to work together, at a time when Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem was still in its early stages.
For years, Nigerians were unable to receive funds through PayPal due to restrictions placed on accounts in the country.
Under the new arrangement, users can now link their PayPal accounts to Paga wallets, enabling them to receive funds directly through PayPal, a functionality that had previously been unavailable.
“Our partnership unlocks that. Nigerian PayPal users who link their PayPal accounts to Paga can now receive money via PayPal. Only PayPal Nigeria accounts linked to Paga are enabled for receiving money,” Mr Oviosu said.
Now, Nigerian merchants and entrepreneurs can also leverage the integration to reach PayPal’s global network of more than 400 million users and expand their businesses internationally.
Through Paga’s platform, users can withdraw PayPal balances, spend via card, transfer funds to local bank accounts, and pay bills and merchants within the Paga ecosystem.
“Partnerships like this don’t happen overnight. They are the result of years of conversations, trust-building, regulatory work, and showing up consistently. I’m proud of the Paga team for staying the course. I’m grateful to the PayPal team for believing in the long-term vision. And I’m excited about what this unlocks for Nigerians participating in the global digital economy,” he said alluding the decade-long restrictions placed on the country.
“Whether you’re a freelancer receiving international payments, a business selling online, or a consumer shopping globally, this collaboration makes it easier to access and use global funds locally, in a way that’s simple, secure, and built for our markets,” he said.
On his part, the Senior Vice President, Regional Head and General Manager of PayPal Middle East and Africa, Mr Otto Williams, noted that the partnership aligns with PayPal’s focus on working with local innovators to support financial inclusion and participation in the digital economy.
“We’ve been intentional about partnering with local innovators like Paga and developing solutions that help Nigerians earn, spend, and grow,” Mr Williams said. “This collaboration helps strengthen the broader payments ecosystem by supporting local innovation, expanding financial inclusion, and enabling more consumers and businesses to participate confidently in the digital economy.”
This development comes three months after Nigeria exited the grey list countries of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) under increased monitoring for deficiencies in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) frameworks.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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In this article, we take a detailed look at what makes this broker for trading a notable option for both novice and experienced traders.
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Trading Account Types Offered by Headway
Headway broker understands that every trader enters the market with a different level of experience:
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Headway supports its user base with comprehensive resources and financial incentives:
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Conclusion
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
