Opay finally gives in to harsh economic environment, suspends Nigeria operations

By Omobayo Azeez

After months of struggling to beat economic headwinds, Opay has finally thrown in the towel as it confirmed that most of its operations in Nigeria will be put on hold.

Its business units, including the ride-hailing services, ORide, OCar, as well as its logistics service, OExpress, are affected by the new decision, the company said in a statement.

Opay said the decision was down largely to the harsh business conditions which have affected many Nigerian companies during this COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown, and Lagos State government ban on its flagship ride-hailing motorcycle service.

“Globally, ride-sharing businesses have been heavily impacted by the pandemic. But several months ago, foreseeing this issue, OPay had already taken preemptive steps to restructure our business focus away from rides. It is worthy to note that this final restructuring has minimal impact on OPay as a whole business,” the company stated.

It also clarified ride-sharing had always been only one part, and not a major part of OPay’s diversified business in Nigeria

In fact, it said, OPay had been investing more and seeing accelerated growth in its commitment to Nigeria’s financial and technology inclusion.

“During the pandemic, we have seen continued demand for our offline mobile money agency, and online digital payment, which remain the core of our business.

“From January to April 2020 for example, we witnessed a 44 per cent growth of offline and online transaction value even in the midst of pandemic and lockdown,” it said.

The company further described this as a testament to the high demand for flexible and easy financial services by Nigerians.

“OPay remains one of the most well-funded and profitable mobile money platforms in Nigeria, and we will continue to do more for our customers.”

It promised to continue to invest in and grow in the eCommerce space, aligning its customer and business eCommerce units which will continue to operate and grow.

“We believe a financial platform coupled with goods’ platform will form the future of Nigeria’s technology development,” it concluded.