Sub-Saharan Africa · GDP rank #29

Nigeria

NG · NGN @ 0.0007290/USD

Nigeria is Africa's largest fintech market and its most turbulent — a freshly floated naira, inflation above 30%, the world's best-documented failed retail CBDC (eNaira, still in live_stalled status), and the continent's deepest private mobile-money economy (OPay, PalmPay, Moniepoint, Kuda) operating alongside the Verve domestic card scheme. NIBSS' NIP rail cleared 11.6bn transactions in 2024, more than any other African instant system; the naira has been the best-performing African currency YTD in 2026 as IMTO settlement reforms pulled informal-market flows formal.

Tab 07

Fintech & disruption

Disruption intensity, unicorns, notable domestic players, cross-border entrants, and venture funding depth — the structural state of the disruption stack for this market.

Down sharply from US$2bn peak in 2021-22; retrenchment driven by macro + Binance exit.

Disruption · very highTop player · Flutterwave

VC deals · 2024

$800.0M

total disclosed

Largest unicorn

$3.0B

Flutterwave

Unicorns

Flutterwave

$3.0B

cross-border payment orchestration

2022 Series D

Africa's most valuable fintech; operates in 30+ countries; delayed NYSE IPO.

Flutterwave

Interswitch

$1.0B

switching + Verve domestic scheme

2019 Visa investment (US$200M)

Interswitch

OPay

$2.0B

super-app + micro-bank

2021 Series C at US$2B

Reuters

Moniepoint

$1.0B

agent banking + SME

2024 Series C (Google-led, US$110M)

TechCrunch

Notable players

Established players outside unicorn status — acquisitions, specialist networks, or regulated operators that shape the market.

PalmPay

super-app wallet

PalmPay

Kuda

neobank

Kuda

Paystack

PSP (acquired by Stripe 2020)

Stripe

Cross-border entrants

Foreign-licensed operators that have achieved scale locally via passporting, branch, or subsidiary.

Stripe (via Paystack)

operates via acquired subsidiary

Stripe

Wise

inbound-to-NGN only; no NGN account issuance; constrained by FX regime

Wise