Nigerian fintech pioneer Paga has partnered with the Sui blockchain to integrate cryptocurrency infrastructure into its platform.
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Key Takeaways:
- Paga partnered with Sui on May 7 to launch high-yield accounts and crypto rails for 1 billion people.
- Paga Joins Flutterwave and Paystack in Exploring Blockchain for Settlement, Treasury and Global Payments
- Paga will leverage its historic size of $42 billion in the rollout $USDsui stablecoin returns and asset tokenization.
A roadmap for digital finance
Nigerian fintech pioneer Paga has partnered with Sui blockchain, marking the company’s most significant foray into crypto infrastructure yet. The partnership was unveiled on May 7 at Sui Live in Miami, weeks after founder Tayo Oviosu transitioned to the role of Group CEO in April.
The deal would enable Paga to expand beyond traditional mobile money and payments into stablecoin products, tokenized assets and blockchain-powered cross-border transfers. Oviosu said the partnership aims to build financial rails that help Africans hedge against currency volatility, access global markets and participate in new forms of digital finance.
“These are the walls of the cage, and until we tear them down, financial freedom on this continent is incomplete,” Oviosu told the crowd. ‘We have found that partner: Paga and Sui.’
According to both companies, the integration will focus on high-yield USD accounts backed by $USDsuiSui’s recently launched dollar stablecoin. It will also focus on crypto on-ramps and off-ramps across Paga’s operating markets, plus tokenized real-world assets including real estate, bonds and solar projects.
Oviosu said the roadmap could allow Paga users to hold interest-bearing dollar balances, exchange between local currencies and crypto with minimal friction, invest in previously inaccessible assets and send money across borders “as easily and cheaply as sending an email.”
Paga’s move marks the continuation of a shift among African fintechs to explore blockchain for settlement, treasury and global payments. In October 2025, Flutterwave partnered with Polygon to build a stablecoin payments infrastructure, while another Nigerian payments giant, Paystack, reorganized into The Stack Group to deepen research into emerging technologies.
Both companies were admitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering supervision program for virtual asset service providers on March 31. Oviosu framed the opportunity in demographic terms.
“Fifty-seven percent of African adults do not have a bank account,” he said. “I see an Africa that is the largest greenfield financial market in the world.”
Paga currently processes $1.5 billion in monthly payments. In 2025, the company processed $11 billion in 169 million transactions. Since its founding in 2009, it has processed a total payment volume of $42 billion from 653 million transactions.
Oviosu said the scale will help the Sui partnership get off to a flying start.
“$42 billion consists of school fees paid, salaries received, grandmother receiving money from her son in the city – instantly, safely and at a fraction of the cost,” he said.
Sui launched $USDsuia US dollar-backed stablecoin, an interest-bearing coin, that allows holders to earn interest by simply holding the digital dollar in their accounts, on May 4. It will be the second digital currency in the Sui ecosystem, following the launch of the native SUI token in 2023. The stablecoin will be issued by Bridge, the US crypto infrastructure company acquired by Stripe in 2025 for $1.1 billion.