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Latest $120 Million Series B Round for Opay Proves Chinese Investors Have Made an “Unmistakable Pivot to African Tech”

by Eric Olander

The pace of Chinese investment in Africa’s tech sector appears to be heating up anew with a $120 million second funding round, also known as a Series B, for the Nigeria-based fintech company OPay. What’s interesting here is that some of China’s largest tech players, including the eCommerce logistics giant Meituan-Dianping, took part in this investment, suggesting there’s a growing appetite from Chinese investors to buy into Africa’s burgeoning start-up scene.

3 Things to Know About This Deal

  • Since June, OPay has raised $170 million. While that may sound like a lot, it’s less than the $200 million raised by Nigerian fintech rival Interswitch. Last week, PalmPay, also based in Nigeria, raised $40 million largely from Chinese investors.
  • OPay’s parent company, Opera, is majority-owned by Chinese investors who took the struggling Norwegian company and turned it into Africa’s #2 browser and launched a popular search engine.
  • OPay says it plans to use the new money to drive expansion beyond its home market in Nigeria and compete head-on in a variety of mobile payment and service verticals with the likes of the hugely popular M-Pesa mobile payment service in East Africa.

So far in 2019, Chinese investment companies have invested $240 million in African start-ups, predominantly in the fintech and transportation logistics sectors.

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