PayPal’s Return to Nigeria Triggers Boycott Calls, Skepticism, and Opportunity

PayPal is re-entering Nigeria through a partnership with local fintech Paga, allowing Nigerians to receive international payments, settle funds in naira, and access PayPal’s global network for the first time in nearly two decades.

Under the integration, users can link their PayPal accounts to Paga wallets, receive payments from more than 200 countries, and withdraw instantly in naira. Users can also hold balances in dollars and spend globally at merchants that accept PayPal. Currency conversion will be based on willing-buyer, willing-seller rates.

For Nigerian merchants, the partnership opens access to PayPal’s network of over 400 million users worldwide, enabling them to accept payments in up to 25 currencies with local settlement through Paga. Funds can be spent via cards, transferred to bank accounts, or used within Paga’s ecosystem. The integration also enables Nigerians to receive payments from Venmo users in the United States.

A Long Road Back

PayPal had excluded Nigerians from receiving inbound payments since 2004, citing fraud risks and weak financial controls at the time. While Nigerians could make outbound payments, the inability to receive funds forced freelancers, merchants, and startups to rely on workarounds or alternative platforms.

During PayPal’s absence, local and regional fintechs built robust cross-border payment infrastructure. Nigeria’s digital payments volume hit ₦1.07 quadrillion in 2024 and ₦284.99 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, underscoring how much the market has matured without PayPal.

PayPal said the decision to re-engage was driven by Nigeria’s payments maturity and Paga’s scale, compliance framework, and APIs, which now make local settlement and risk management viable at scale.

Mixed Reactions From Nigerians

The announcement has triggered sharply divided reactions online. Some Nigerians have welcomed the move as long overdue, seeing it as a win for freelancers, remote workers, and exporters of digital services.

Others remain sceptical, pointing to PayPal’s history of account freezes, withheld funds, and years of exclusion. Calls for boycotts have circulated on social media, with critics arguing that local alternatives already serve the market faster and with fewer restrictions.

Between both camps is a pragmatic view: PayPal is returning not out of sentiment, but because money has moved on. With Nigerians earning more foreign income through freelancing, remote work, and digital exports, global platforms risk irrelevance if they stay out.

Why This Partnership Matters

PayPal’s return reflects a broader shift in how global payment companies approach Nigeria. Rather than launching standalone operations, firms are increasingly embedding into local wallets that already handle compliance, merchant onboarding, and naira settlement at scale.

Similar strategies are playing out across the ecosystem, from card networks deepening local partnerships to global processors securing licences for naira collections.

For Nigeria, inbound PayPal flows help channel foreign earnings into the formal financial system, supporting liquidity and easing pressure on the currency. For Paga, the deal closes a long-standing loop: built during PayPal’s absence, it now becomes the gateway PayPal once lacked.

The Real Test: Execution

In 2025, Paga processed ₦17 trillion across 169 million transactions, positioning it to absorb new inflows from PayPal users. Still, the partnership does not erase years of exclusion—it simply changes access.

The real test will be execution: onboarding speed, pricing transparency, customer support, and reliability. If those hold, the integration could reset expectations for how global platforms expand in frontier markets—through local infrastructure, not around it.

For Nigerians, the choice remains personal: boycott, embrace, or cautiously experiment. What’s clear is that after nearly 20 years, PayPal is back—and Nigeria is no longer waiting.