Only 2 Million Nigerians Actually Fly (The Truth That Killed $300M in Funding)

Picture this: A Stanford MBA graduate standing in a cramped stall near Maryland, Lagos, watching a street vendor process ₦5 million in cash in 15 minutes.

No POS. No bank account. Just bags of money.

That moment changed Tayo Oviosu's entire strategy for Paga—and it's why his company processes $1 billion monthly while competitors who raised $150M+ have vanished.

While everyone else was pitching VCs in Silicon Valley, Tayo was riding danfos. While competitors burned millions trying to "disrupt," he was learning why Baba on the corner is more trusted than any bank.

The result? Paga became the only major Nigerian fintech that survived every crisis from 2010 to 2024—profitable, growing, and now expanding to the US.

The $300M Graveyard Nobody Talks About

One competitor raised massive funding. Entered Nigeria loudly. Spent it all. Then quietly shut down everything.

Tayo watched it happen: “I’m sitting there like, what? Are you serious? That’s crazy.”

While they were burning cash, he made three unpopular decisions:

• In 2014, he chose profitability over growth metrics.
• In 2020, he waited SIX YEARS for regulatory changes instead of forcing the market.
• Today, he’s building for the actual Nigeria, not the PowerPoint version

The lesson? In Africa, patent capital beats fast money. Every. Single. Time.

The Uncomfortable Truth Nobody Wants to Hear

"The earning power and ability to pay for consumers is much lower than it seems publicly."

While everyone's chasing 200 million Nigerians, Tayo revealed the stat that changes everything:

Only 2 million unique Nigerians fly internationally per year. They just fly multiple times. That’s your “global consumer” market. Not 200 million. Two.

This is why Paga pivoted to serve the mid-to-upper market and built Paga Engine for B2B. Sometimes the mass market opportunity is smaller than the pitch deck suggests.

From Lagos to Silicon Valley (Yes, You Read That Right)

Paga just launched US digital banking. FDIC-insured accounts. For the diaspora.

Why? Because Tayo couldn't open a US bank account for two years when he first arrived. He had to put $1,000 down just to get a secured credit card.

Now Paga offers what he needed then: Banking that works in both worlds. One wallet. Two countries. Zero friction.

The vision isn’t Africans surviving anywhere. It’s thriving everywhere.

_{This episode is brought to you in partnership with Vban, the borderless banking app built for Africa’s digital workforce. Use the code AFROPOLITAN to sign up: https://vban.com so they know you came from us}

What You’ll Gain From This Episode:

• The Street Vendor Who Changes Everything

  Watch how one vendor handling ₦5M in 15 minutes reshaped Paga’s entire strategy. This is how you REALLY validate a business idea.

• Why Tayo Waited 6 Years (And Won)

  The discipline lesson that will save founders from fatal mistakes—and why saying no to growth can be your smartest move.

• The 200,000 Jobs Nobody Counts

  One agent paid her entire medical school fees through Paga commissions. She found Tayo on a Twitter Space just to say thank you. This is impact without charity.

• The Real Nigerian Market Size

  When Tayo drops the “2 million flyers” number, you’ll finally understand why population-based pitch decks miss the mark entirely.

LISTENT TO OUR CONVERSATION WITH TAYO ON SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS

The Quote That Rewired My Brain:

"It's going to take you over 10 years to get to anything reasonably called success. Then people are going to think you're an overnight success."
—Steve Case to Tayo Oviosu

He was wrong. In Africa, it takes 20.

Paga is 16 years old. Still here. Still building. Still processing $1B monthly.

What’s your 20-year game?

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P.S: Tayo personally called Aaron Levie (CEO of Box) during the naira devaluation to renegotiate a $50K contract. When the CEO of a $1B/month processor is personally calling Silicon Valley CEOs about software subscriptions, you know the hustle never stops. That's the difference between founders who survive and founders who don't.

The full conversation will change how you think about building in Africa.

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Warmly,
Chika & Eche
Co-Hosts, Afropolitan Podcast