OPay Wrote Off $113 Million in Bad Loans in Six Months Ahead of NYSE Debut
OPay wrote off $113 million in bad loans over a six-month period as its lending volumes surged, a disclosure that raised credit-risk questions in the lead-up to its NYSE listing. The figure adds a material risk dimension to the fintech's landmark public market debut.
OPay IPO: the math hiding inside the prospectus
For every ten naira OPay lent in the first half of 2026, it had to set aside five naira just to cover the loans it expected never to see back. That ratio — provisions eating half of lending income, and growing — is the number that matters here.
OPay's 4.3% non-performing loan ratio sounds reassuring until you read how they count. They write a loan off at 120 days overdue; Nigerian banks don't call it a loss until 360 days. That's not a technicality — it's eight extra months of a bad loan still sitting on a bank's books looking healthy. OPay's books are cleaner partly because they move faster.
The uncomfortable truth for investors buying into this listing: the lending business that now generates more revenue than payments is one where losses are outpacing the income meant to cover them. Profitable today, yes. But the direction of travel is the thing to watch.
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- OPay wrote off $113 million in bad loans in six months as lending surged · innovation-village.com · T2