Lagos, Nigeria — Nigerian fintech Paga says the value of transactions processed on its platform has grown 17x between 2021 and 2025, marking its transition from a consumer payments startup into a core payments infrastructure provider powering some of Africa’s fastest-growing businesses.
In 2021, Paga processed 35 million transactions worth ₦1.2 trillion. By May 2022, it had already matched that value again, handling ₦1.2 trillion across 25 million transactions, an early signal of accelerating demand for its backend payment services.
Today, that growth is being driven by Paga Engine, the company’s infrastructure layer that offers payments orchestration, bill payment aggregation, and Banking-as-a-Service to fintechs, merchants, and enterprises operating across multiple African markets.
What began as a consumer payments app has quietly evolved into the “plumbing” behind high-volume digital businesses, where uptime, settlement reliability, and regulatory compliance matter more than brand visibility. Paga Engine now sits beneath several platforms scaling rapidly across the continent.
Founder and CEO Tayo Oviosu credits the growth to long-term investment in resilient systems and trust built with partners. “At this scale, infrastructure only works if it’s dependable,” he said, noting that reliability has been central to Paga’s expansion.
The company’s trajectory reflects a broader shift in African fintech, where startups are increasingly building and selling infrastructure rather than end-user apps. As transaction volumes rise and cross-border complexity increases, demand for robust, compliant payment rails continues to grow.
Paga says it is still early in its infrastructure journey, positioning itself to support the next wave of fintech and digital commerce companies across Africa.
[c] talkbrandafrica