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 Modupe Gbadeyanka
The deadline for filing individual annual income tax returns for residents of Lagos State has again been extended to April 21, 2026.
This information was revealed via a statement signed by the Head of Corporate Communications of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mrs Monsurat Amasa-Oyelude, on Saturday.
The agency thanked some taxpayers for their continued compliance and commitment to the filing of their individual annual income tax returns, but charged those who have yet to file theirs to do so before the new deadline.
LIRS had earlier moved the deadline from its statutory period of March 31, 2026, to April 14, 2026, but due to “the overwhelming response and to enhance taxpayer convenience, while maintaining the integrity and accuracy of submissions,” the date was moved forward to April 26.
The tax-collecting organisation said it “observed a significant increase in traffic on its eTax platform as more taxpayers endeavour to meet the filing deadline.”
“In view of this development, and to ensure that all taxpayers are provided with adequate opportunity to successfully complete their filings, LIRS hereby announces a further extension of the deadline, now set for April 21, 2026,” it stated.
The agency reiterated that all filings must be completed electronically via the LIRS eTax platform: https://etax.lirs.net, which remains the only approved channel for submission.
Taxpayers were reminded that the filing of annual income tax returns remains a statutory obligation and were encouraged to take advantage of this final extension to fulfil their civic responsibility.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was in green on Friday after it closed higher by 0.30 per cent as a result of sustained bargain hunting.
Customs Street was up yesterday after three of the five major sectors came under buying pressure, with the consumer goods index up by 1.64 per cent, the industrial goods space up by 1.12 per cent, and the banking counter up by 0.64 per cent.
Business Post observed that profit-taking brought down the insurance by 2.61 per cent, and weakened the energy sector by 0.01 per cent.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation increased by N707 billion to N131.166 trillion from N130.459 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) expanded by 1,097.86 points to 203,770.42 from 202,672.56 points.
Transactions by Nigerian stock investors shrank during the session, as 548.6 million shares worth N31.5 billion exchanged hands in 48,538 deals compared with the 652.9 million shares valued at N39.8 billion transacted in 51,101 deals a day earlier.
This implied that the trading volume went down by 15.98 per cent, the trading value depreciated by 20.85 per cent, and the number of deals crashed by 5.02 per cent.
Access Holdings finished the day as the busiest equity after selling 52.7 million units valued at N1.4 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 47.8 million units worth N5.4 billion, UBA traded 38.9 million units for N1.8 billion, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 36.7 million units worth N35.5 million, and GTCO sold 34.9 million units valued at N4.6 billion.
The market breadth index was negative during the session with 20 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating weak investor sentiment.
Trans Nationwide Express appreciated by 9.91 per cent to N3.77, International Breweries grew by 9.88 per cent to N13.35, Chams rose by 9.84 per cent to N3.35, Guinea Insurance improved by 9.38 per cent to N462.90, and Lafarge Africa gained 8.52 per cent to close at N233.20.
On the flip side, Omatek lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N2.07, Austin Laz declined by 9.93 per cent to N3.99, Coronation Insurance dipped by 9.88 per cent to N2.92, Zichis crashed by 9.58 per cent to N12.55, and Cornerstone Insurance retreated by 8.77 per cent to N5.20.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed the last trading session of the week in the southern territory after further losing 0.59 per cent on Friday, April 10.
This happened as three price decliners weakened the NASD market due to continued sell-offs. The bourse did not finish in green this week.
11 Plc lost N24.70 to close at N222.30 per share compared with the previous day’s N247.00 per share, MRS Oil dropped N1 to settle at N164.00 per unit versus Thursday’s N165.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 25 Kobo to N3.00 per share from N3.25 per share.
As a result, the market capitalisation shrank by N13.79 billion to N2.315 trillion from N2.329 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 23.05 points to 3,870.45 points from 3,893.50 points.
Yesterday, there were two price gainers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which chalked up N1.07 to sell at N64.21 per unit versus N63.50 per share, and Impresit Bakalori Plc appreciated by 22 Kobo to N2.42 per share from N2.20 per share.
The volume of securities fell by 81.9 per cent to 188,593 units from 1.04 million units, the value of securities decreased by 36.3 per cent to N25.7 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals remained unchanged at 26 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 57.6 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.6 million units worth N1.8 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units s0ld for N415.7 million and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded at N1.2 billion.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn