PagaTech
Location
Nigeria
Sector
Banking and Financial Services
Type of Investment
Risk Capital
Project Stage
Length of Investment
2018+
Website
Investment Overview
GIF invested equity and debt to support Paga, one of Nigeria’s leading mobile payments and digital financial services company, to grow its consumer and consumers via agents business as well as develop digital payment solutions for small merchants and businesses and become a leading player in Nigeria’s transition from a cash to digital payment economy.
The Development Challenge
In Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy with a population of 186 million, 42% of the population is financially excluded, and that proportion has been increasing. For 62% of unbanked Nigerians, dealing in the cash economy and lack of essential financial products has held back the poorest in society from creating safety nets and opportunities to get out of poverty. Even as the rate of urban migration rapidly increases, issues with the traditional financial system have excluded a majority of the growing urban population. Women and youth are the most under-served populations, with 47% of women and 53.5% of those aged between 18 and 25 financially excluded, compared with 37% of men.
The Innovation
Paga is one of Nigeria’s leading mobile payments and digital financial services that is driving financial access and usage for the mass market. Paga brings financial services closer to the mass market by using a large and growing agent network (small kiosk shops, pharmacies, etc.) to deliver a variety of financial services including P2P money transfers, transfers to bank accounts, bill payments, airtime purchases, receiving remittances, savings, and continuing to introduce deeper financial services through its platform. In addition, Paga has developed a direct consumer application tapping into the rapid proliferation of smart mobile phones and internet in Africa. More recently, Paga has introduced solutions for small merchants and businesses to digitise their payments and collections. These types of digital financial services offered to the mass market and increasing the usage of mobile money can play a powerful role in promoting inclusive growth.
Our Investment
Our investment, via Equity and Debt, is supporting Paga to increase its country wide footprint of agents to promote financial inclusion in Nigeria and to drive usage of a mobile wallet and other digital financial services for these customers that help transform Nigeria into a digital financial ecosystem. In addition, Paga is developing solutions for SMEs to digitize their cash collections and payments. We are also supporting Paga to use its market leader position to positively influence system wide change, both in the market and in terms of regulation, while enabling other promising financial inclusion technologies to flourish.
PagaTech in numbers
agents
payments processed
Users