Who Owns Opay? Full History of the Company and Its Founders

If you have ever transferred money with just a tap, paid for transport without cash, or withdrawn funds at a small kiosk on a street corner in Nigeria, chances are you have interacted with Opay. The green-themed brand has become so common that it feels like it has always been part of daily life. But behind that familiar app lies an intriguing story of ownership, innovation, global ambition, and how a company born from a Chinese tech ecosystem found fertile ground in Africa’s most populous country. Many users wonder: Who really owns Opay, and how did it grow so quickly? The answer takes us on a journey from the headquarters of a Chinese internet giant to the bustling streets of Lagos.

The Roots of Opay: Birth Out of Opera

To understand ownership, we must first travel back to Opera Software, a Norwegian internet company famous for its web browser. Opera had long been exploring new markets, and by 2018 it had shifted its focus heavily toward Africa. With hundreds of millions of young, mobile-first users, the continent was fertile ground for innovation. Opera was already running Opera Mini, a lightweight browser that became extremely popular in Nigeria and across Africa due to its ability to save data.

But Opera wanted more than just a browser presence. It wanted to be a key player in the daily lives of African consumers. That ambition led to the creation of Opera Pay, later shortened to Opay. The vision was to create a super app—something that could combine mobile payments, ride-hailing, food delivery, and more into one ecosystem. This model mirrored what Chinese companies had achieved with apps like Alipay and WeChat Pay, which seamlessly integrated financial services with lifestyle products.

The Formal Launch of Opay in Nigeria

In 2018, Opera officially launched Opay in Nigeria. The timing was deliberate. Nigeria had just experienced a surge in mobile penetration, and traditional banking was struggling to serve a population of over 200 million, many of whom remained unbanked or underbanked. Opay entered the market promising to simplify financial transactions for ordinary people.

From the very beginning, ownership was tied to Opera’s global structure. Opera Software AS, which had by then been acquired by a Chinese consortium led by Zhou Yahui, became the parent company behind Opay. Zhou Yahui, a billionaire entrepreneur and founder of Beijing Kunlun Tech, had taken a controlling stake in Opera and was steering it toward fintech and mobile services. This made him one of the central figures in Opay’s ownership story.

Zhou Yahui and the Vision Behind Opay

To grasp why Opay exists, you need to understand Zhou Yahui. Born in China, Zhou is best known as the founder of Kunlun Tech, a company that made its mark in online gaming before expanding into broader technology investments. He acquired a major stake in Opera in 2016 when the Norwegian company was struggling, and he reinvented it as a platform for fintech and lifestyle services in emerging markets.

Zhou’s strategy was clear: Africa was ripe for a financial revolution. Millions of people were excluded from traditional banking systems but had access to mobile phones. By leveraging Opera’s existing popularity through its browser, Zhou and his team could push Opay as a trusted solution for payments and beyond. His ownership was not just financial; it was strategic, blending Opera’s global brand with the hunger for digital services in Nigeria.

The Growth Phase: Building Trust in Nigeria

When Opay first launched, many Nigerians were skeptical. Cash was king, and mobile money had only begun gaining traction through pioneers like Paga and telecom-backed solutions. But Opay invested aggressively in building an agent network. Small shops and kiosks carrying the green Opay logo began springing up everywhere. These agents allowed customers to deposit and withdraw cash, bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds.

The company also experimented with ride-hailing services like ORide, food delivery through OFood, and logistics via OExpress. While not all of these services survived long-term, they were crucial in establishing brand recognition. By positioning itself as more than just a wallet, Opay made itself part of everyday life.

Behind this growth was Opera’s deep financial backing. Billions of naira were poured into marketing, subsidies, and agent incentives. All of it tied back to the ownership structure centered on Zhou Yahui and the Opera group of companies.

Expansion and Investment Rounds

As Opay scaled, it attracted global investors beyond Opera’s direct funding. Venture capital firms from Asia, the Middle East, and Europe saw the potential of Nigeria’s digital economy. By 2019, Opay raised significant funding rounds that pushed its valuation into the billion-dollar category. These investments meant that ownership expanded to include a range of institutional investors, but Opera and Zhou remained the driving force.

This mixed ownership is common in tech companies. While the founder or parent company retains a controlling influence, other investors buy equity to fuel growth. For Opay, this structure gave it the capital to expand rapidly while maintaining its identity as part of the Opera ecosystem.

The Turning Point: Financial Services Take Center Stage

Although Opay tried to be a super app offering multiple lifestyle services, the Nigerian market steered it in another direction. Ride-hailing and food delivery faced stiff competition and regulatory hurdles. But one service kept growing steadily: financial transactions. Nigerians increasingly trusted Opay for transfers, bill payments, airtime, and merchant payments.

This shift meant that the Electronic Money Transfer License (EMTL) became central to Opay’s operations. By securing this license from the Central Bank of Nigeria, Opay solidified itself as a serious financial player. Ownership mattered here because only a licensed and regulated company could operate legally at such scale. The Opera group’s reputation and backing were essential in gaining regulatory approval.

How Ownership Influenced Opay’s Strategy

The fact that Opay is owned by Opera, under the leadership of Zhou Yahui, has shaped the company’s strategy in several ways. First, it has made Opay globally minded from the start. Unlike some local startups that scale slowly, Opay came into Nigeria with significant financial backing and an ambitious vision.

Second, ownership by a Chinese-led company introduced a playbook proven in Asia. Super apps had already succeeded in China, so Opay adopted similar models, even if it later refined them to fit Nigeria’s realities. Finally, global ownership meant access to international networks of investors, engineers, and strategic partners that a purely local startup might not have had.

Comparisons With Other Fintech Companies

It is interesting to compare Opay’s ownership model with that of other Nigerian fintechs. Companies like Flutterwave or Paystack were founded locally by Nigerian entrepreneurs, though they later attracted foreign investment. Opay, on the other hand, was foreign-led from the start, though it deeply embedded itself in Nigeria’s economy. This difference in ownership shapes perception. Some see Opay as an outsider that conquered the market, while others see it as a positive example of global investment fueling local growth.

What is undeniable is that Opay’s ownership allowed it to scale at a pace few others could match. By 2021, Opay was processing billions of dollars in transactions annually, dwarfing many competitors. That kind of scale was only possible because of the resources and strategic vision tied to its ownership.

Challenges Faced Along the Way

Ownership does not guarantee smooth sailing. Opay faced regulatory pushback, particularly around its ride-hailing services, and criticism that its aggressive expansion was unsustainable. Some Nigerians were also cautious about the idea of a foreign-owned company dominating local finance. But by focusing on compliance and steadily improving customer experience, Opay weathered these storms.

Its success shows how ownership is not just about who holds the shares, but how they guide the company through challenges. Zhou Yahui and the Opera group demonstrated a willingness to adapt, shutting down services that did not fit while doubling down on the core financial products that Nigerians valued most.

The Present and the Future

Today, Opay is widely regarded as one of Africa’s leading fintech companies. Its ownership remains anchored in Opera and Zhou Yahui, supported by a network of international investors. The company’s valuation has crossed into the multi-billion-dollar range, placing it among Africa’s most valuable startups.

For everyday Nigerians, however, ownership is less visible than the experience of using the app. What matters is that the wallet works, the transfers go through, and the agents are available nearby. Still, the story of ownership is vital because it explains why Opay has been able to grow so quickly, why it has the resources it does, and why it remains a major player in the African fintech scene.

Conclusion

So who owns Opay? The company was born out of Opera, the Norwegian browser company now controlled by Zhou Yahui and his Chinese-led consortium. Zhou remains the central figure in Opay’s ownership story, supported by Opera’s structure and international investors who joined through funding rounds. The full history of Opay shows how foreign ownership, when paired with local opportunity, can create a powerful synergy.

From its roots as Opera Pay to its current role as a fintech giant in Nigeria, ownership has shaped Opay’s vision, strategy, and success. It is a story of global ambition meeting local demand, of a billionaire’s vision aligning with the needs of millions of ordinary people. And as Nigeria continues to embrace digital finance, the ownership of Opay will remain a fascinating example of how the world’s financial future is increasingly interconnected.

The journey is still unfolding, and who knows what the next chapter will hold. What is clear is that Opay’s ownership has given it both the muscle and the mindset to keep shaping the future of payments in Nigeria and beyond.