Paga Shifts Tayo Oviosu to Group CEO and Appoints an Acting Nigeria Head

In short

Paga is changing its top structure after 17 years of founder-led operations in Nigeria.

Tayo Oviosu is moving into a new Group CEO role. Opeyemi Oyinloye has been named Acting CEO of Paga Nigeria, subject to Central Bank of Nigeria approval.

What happened

Oviosu, who has run Paga’s day-to-day business in Nigeria since launch, will step back from operating the company’s biggest market.

Oyinloye, currently Paga’s general manager for business operations, will take over as Acting CEO of Paga Nigeria while the company waits for regulatory sign-off from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which oversees payment companies and licences in the country.

Oviosu said his focus as Group CEO will be expansion into new African markets and building out bets in stablecoins, crypto, and artificial intelligence, which is software that can learn patterns from data and make predictions or automate tasks.

The leadership change is the first time someone other than Oviosu will lead Paga Nigeria.

Why it matters

Paga is one of Africa’s oldest fintechs, and Nigeria remains its core market. Handing daily control to a new leader is a signal that the company is trying to scale beyond a founder-centric structure.

The timing also matters because Paga’s transaction volume is rising. The company processed ₦17.1 trillion, about $12 billion, in transaction value in 2025, up 96% year on year.

Paga has also been adding international and partnership-led products, including US banking services for the African diaspora and a local partnership that brought PayPal back to Nigeria. A Group CEO role suggests the company wants more bandwidth for regional expansion and newer product lines that may face different regulatory and technical requirements.

What to watch

Watch for when the Central Bank of Nigeria approves the acting Nigeria CEO appointment, and whether Paga announces specific new markets as Oviosu shifts to group-level growth.