Chinese tech magnate Yahui Zhou takes control at OPay, the Nigerian mobile money giant
In a strategic move to expand beyond mobile payments, Yahui Zhou, the chairman of OPay, has set his sights on e-commerce. The aim is to leverage the growth in digital payments and integrate additional financial and security products as part of OPay's broader ecosystem expansion strategy.
The company, which originated in Nigeria, has already taken steps towards this goal. In March, OPay quietly launched OMall and OTrade, two new e-commerce services. However, explicit details specific to Zhou's direct plan for e-commerce expansion were not clearly found in the search results. The general trend for related companies and investments shows a focus on e-commerce and travel as growth verticals.
The news of OPay's e-commerce ambition became slightly complicated after it suspended its OExpress logistics service in June. The decision was made by Zhou, OPay's billionaire chairman. The company claimed it had 5 million monthly active customers in April 2020, but the suspension of services has raised questions about its e-commerce potential.
Usage statistics suggested that both OMall and OTrade were doing fine. OTrade, in particular, has gained better traction, recording around $100,000 in revenue. However, Zhou reportedly has both services competing with each other, with the service recording the most growth staying, the other getting absorbed under the former.
OPay's e-commerce ambition comes at a time when four of Nigeria's biggest payments companies, Flutterwave, Paystack, Remita, and GT Bank, have also entered the e-commerce space. These companies are financially capable and, excluding TradeDepot, are focused on social commerce, where more vendors crave visibility for their products and services.
TradeDepot, a four-year-old startup enabling offline commerce, represents another formidable competitor for OPay's business-to-business ambitions. The value of Indonesia's bike hailing market is expected to top $5.6 billion by 2025, with Go-Jek and Grab leading the industry.
The suspension of the services was not based on data or any future trend, according to company insiders. After affirming OPay's place as a leader in the payments business, Zhou reportedly wants to increase the company's value prospects by delving into the e-commerce business.
The memo announcing the suspension of ORide and OExpress services was received by the Nigerian team at 2 AM local time on the second day of July 2020. The company was on the verge of an expansion to Ghana when the news went public, and after the announcement, OPay's communications team struggled to control the narrative.
Zhou, who officially resigned as Chairman of Beijing Kunlun to become full-time CEO of OPay in April 2020, has set ambitious growth targets for OPay and aims to list it on the stock market. His previous leadership roles led Beijing Kunlun Tech Co to the Shenzen Stock Exchange and listed Opera on the NASDAQ.
However, the suspension of services and the competitive landscape in the e-commerce space will undoubtedly present challenges for OPay. Industry stakeholders and investors will be keen to see what the company achieves in the e-commerce space.
In a surprising turn of events, OPay resolved that while OMall had less value proposition, it had a better brand. OTrade became OMall. The company's bike hailing service, ORide, was designed as a payment enabler and didn't lead to high payment volume. The Lagos government banned passenger motorcycle in February, which made Yahui's bike hailing dream shaky.
Yahui downplayed these figures and growth plans for ORide. Despite the challenges, Zhou remains optimistic about OPay's future, focusing on integrating financial and security products into its e-commerce services to create a comprehensive digital ecosystem.
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