LAGOS, Nigeria — OPay Limited, the digital financial services company operating in Nigeria and other markets, has written off $113.15 million in loans during the first half of 2026, equivalent to approximately ₦170 billion at an illustrative exchange rate of ₦1,500 to the dollar.
The development has drawn attention to the growing risks in Nigeria’s digital lending industry, as the company’s latest financial disclosures show a sharp increase in loan write-offs, overdue repayments and expected credit losses, even as its revenue and profit continue to rise.
The figures were disclosed in OPay’s registration statement filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 9, 2026, ahead of its proposed initial public offering in the United States. Financial details from the filing were reported by Nairametrics and Blueprint Newspapers.
The reported loan write-offs increased by 520.5 per cent compared with the first half of 2025. The $113.15 million written off in just six months also exceeded the $69.95 million OPay wrote off throughout the whole of 2025.
However, the figures do not establish that Nigerian borrowers deliberately refused to repay their loans. A loan write-off generally means a lender has determined that a debt is unlikely to be recovered and has removed it from its books under its accounting policy. It does not necessarily mean that further recovery efforts have ended.
OPay’s financial performance presents a mixed picture. While the company recorded a substantial increase in credit-related losses, its total revenue rose to $467.06 million in the first half of 2026, compared with $197.48 million during the corresponding period of 2025, representing growth of 136.5 per cent.
Profit after tax also increased to $90.87 million from $21.71 million in the same period a year earlier, while operating profit climbed to $131.24 million from $35.80 million.
The figures indicate that OPay remained profitable despite the rising cost of lending and the substantial amount of loans written off.
A closer examination of its revenue shows that lending has become the company’s largest source of income, overtaking the payment-related services for which it is widely known among Nigerian consumers.
Income from loans issued increased by 167.9 per cent to $236.12 million in the first half of 2026, accounting for 50.6 per cent of total revenue. Payment-related services generated $130.55 million, representing 27.9 per cent of revenue, while arranging and servicing loans funded by third-party lenders in Indonesia contributed another $41.57 million.
Combined, lending and loan-related services accounted for approximately 59.5 per cent of OPay’s total revenue, highlighting the growing importance of credit products to its business model.
The company’s Nigerian lending operations expanded significantly during the period. The value of new loans issued in Nigeria rose to $927.63 million from $305.12 million in the first half of 2025, more than tripling year-on-year.
The number of unique borrowers recorded quarterly also increased from 3.5 million to 6.7 million, indicating that OPay’s credit services reached a substantially larger customer base.
The expansion, however, came alongside higher credit costs.
OPay’s expected credit-loss expenses increased by 210.3 per cent to $118.36 million in the first half of 2026, compared with the previous year. These expenses represent the amount the company estimates it may not recover from lending activities and are distinct from loans already written off.
The expenses accounted for 25.3 per cent of total revenue, compared with 19.3 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025. The increase suggests that credit risk is becoming a more significant cost for the business as its lending operations expand.
Another important figure concerns overdue repayments. As of June 30, 2026, borrowers were late in repaying $113.80 million in outstanding loans and interest, representing 27.4 per cent of the $415.33 million owed to OPay.
Although the proportion of overdue loans improved from 34.2 per cent at the end of December 2025, the actual amount overdue increased from $93.71 million. The decline in the percentage therefore occurred alongside an increase in the dollar value of overdue repayments, as the overall loan book expanded.
Overdue loans and written-off loans are not the same. Some overdue borrowers may eventually repay their debts, while written-off loans have been classified as unlikely to be recovered under the lender’s accounting rules.
OPay has also disclosed changes to its lending strategy. According to reports based on its SEC filing, the company tightened consumer lending and shifted towards merchant loans it considers lower risk after temporarily increasing loan sizes and repayment periods for some borrowers.
The strategy appears intended to manage exposure to consumer defaults while continuing to expand its credit business. Whether the changes will reduce future losses will depend on repayment performance as newer loans mature.
Despite the sharp rise in write-offs, the company’s reported non-performing loan ratio stood at 4.3 per cent as of June 30, 2026. The ratio had been 4.8 per cent a year earlier and 5.2 per cent at the end of 2025.
Nevertheless, comparisons with conventional banks require caution because lenders may apply different loan write-off timelines and accounting practices. A lower reported non-performing loan ratio does not, by itself, eliminate concerns about the amount of credit losses being recognised.
The figures have implications for Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital lending market, where financial technology companies use mobile applications, transaction records and other available data to assess borrowers and provide credit.
For OPay, the challenge will be balancing further lending growth with effective risk assessment, repayment monitoring and debt recovery. A larger customer base can increase revenue opportunities, but it can also expose a lender to greater losses when borrowers fail to meet their obligations.
The company’s proposed public listing places additional attention on these financial indicators, as prospective investors assess not only its revenue growth and profitability but also the sustainability of its earnings and the quality of its loan portfolio.
Ultimately, the reported $113.15 million in write-offs represents a significant credit loss for OPay during the first six months of 2026. But the available figures do not prove that all the affected borrowers refused to pay, nor do they show that OPay lost money overall during the period.
Instead, the disclosures reveal a rapidly expanding lending business generating substantial income while facing rising credit costs and significant overdue repayments.
