Nigeria-focused fintech OPay suspends its $300 million US IPO following Chinese regulatory inquiries, threatening its planned $4 billion valuation.
Nigeria-focused payments company OPay has halted its planned $300 million initial public offering (IPO) in the United States following inquiries by a Chinese regulator, Bloomberg has reported.
The decision came just hours after the company had set the price for the offering, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.
The Chinese regulatory scrutiny reportedly centred on OPay’s founder, Zhou Yahui, a Chinese businessman, despite the company having no operations or revenue in China.
Zhou also founded Kunlun Tech, a Chinese technology firm that previously owned the dating application Grindr. He was also part of a group that acquired a stake in Norway’s Opera Ltd. in 2016.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission was not immediately available for comment.
The development highlights Beijing’s growing influence over companies operating internationally, including businesses with limited or no direct operations in China.
Earlier this year, Chinese regulators forced Meta Platforms Inc. to reverse its $2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus.
For OPay, the suspension puts its planned $4 billion valuation in focus and represents a setback for a listing that was expected to attract attention to Africa’s venture-backed technology sector.
The sector has faced persistent fundraising challenges and subdued deal activity following the post-pandemic slowdown in private capital markets.
Although headquartered in Singapore, Nigeria remains OPay’s largest market and the primary source of its business.
The West African country accounted for 88.1 per cent of the company’s total revenue in 2025, underlining its importance to the fintech’s operations.
OPay’s Nigerian business has also expanded beyond basic payment processing into other digital financial services.
By March 2026, approximately 70 per cent of its monthly active wallet users in Nigeria were using more than five products within the company’s ecosystem.
The company has approximately 50 million monthly active users across its markets, with operations also serving customers in Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan.
The suspension of the IPO leaves questions over the company’s immediate fundraising plans and the impact of the reported Chinese regulatory inquiries on its proposed US listing.
