NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Nigeria’s leading mobile payment company, Paga, has announced the completion of a $13m Series B financing led by Adlevo Capital which is expected to expand its lead position in Nigeria’s mobile payments sector. 

“Our recent financing will help us continue to build towards our vision and support the strengthening of our agent network,” Tayo Oviosu, founder and CEO of Paga, said.

“Through our agent network today, we already offer more physical service points than all the bank branches in Nigeria put together, so we are actively working on partnerships with banks to offer our agent network for use by their customers. Effectively, Paga agents will act as human ATMs and bring significant convenience to customers of the banks who need to deposit or withdraw cash from their bank accounts without traveling far or waiting in long lines. This will support the banks in achieving their critical goal of truly reaching the mass market.”

Folabi Esan, Managing Partner at Adlevo Capital, expressed excitement over the company’s new investment.

“When Adlevo first invested in Paga in 2012 the company had processed only about 270,000 transactions totaling just over $15 million in value. The company has experienced an impressive compounded annual growth rateof about 150% since Adlevo invested – today, having processed over 17 million transactions worth over a billion dollars. 

“Paga’s sustained leading position in a competitive marketis a testament to the strength of their team – and I think there’s even more to come as they unlock other areas of the business,” he said.