OPay IPO Plan Validates Nigerian Exchange Group’s Push For Homegrown Tech Listings

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The prospect of Nigerian investors owning a direct stake in OPay, has gained fresh momentum following reports of its planned Initial Public Offering in the United States and a potential secondary listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).

The development is being seen as a major validation for Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), which just two months ago took its campaign for local listing of tech giants to the Presidency.

On August 6, 2026, the Board and Management of NGX Group, led by its chairman, Alhaji Umaru Kwairanga, and Group managing director/chief executive officer, Mr. Temi Popoola, met with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, where they made a strong case for a deliberate national strategy to encourage leading Nigerian businesses, especially technology companies, to list domestically or pursue dual listings.

During that engagement, Popoola specifically mentioned OPay among the fintechs whose listing could be transformative for the market. His argument was simple: companies that generate significant value from Nigeria’s large population should provide a pathway for Nigerians to share in that wealth creation.

For NGX Group, the logic goes beyond increasing market capitalisation. Popoola advocated for moving Nigerians from being mere consumers, employees and agents of these platforms to becoming owners and shareholders in the businesses driving economic growth.

For a company like OPay, which has built its scale on millions of Nigerian users, merchants and agents, a listing on NGX would allow those same users to participate in its ownership story.

Kwairanga, on his part, framed the capital market as a critical national infrastructure for financing enterprise, driving industrialisation and fostering inclusive prosperity.

Attracting leading technology companies to the Exchange, he noted, is about mobilising long-term capital to support business growth while ensuring corporate success translates into national economic development.

OPay’s reported move comes at a time when the gap is glaring. Nigeria has produced several unicorns and tech champions with substantial operations and valuations, but domestic investors have had little opportunity to own them. Their absence has limited sectoral diversity on the NGX and denied millions of Nigerians exposure to the country’s fast-growing digital economy.

While a US IPO would give OPay access to deep international capital, a secondary listing in Lagos would deepen NGX liquidity, broaden its technology representation and connect retail and institutional investors to the wealth being created in the tech sector.

The proposed listing remains subject to regulatory approvals, market conditions and commercial considerations.

Analysts said the renewed attention reinforces the central message of NGX Group’s engagement with President Tinubu: as Nigeria pursues a trillion-dollar economy, its ambition must be matched by a capital market that allows its citizens to invest in the companies powering that growth.

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