Opera MiniPay crosses 1 million users in Africa 5 months after its launch

By Yunusa Umar

Opera, a global web innovator announced that its payment platform, Opera Minipay has crossed 1 million users across its markets in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana. This significant milestone achieved with support from Celo and Mento Labs, was marked today at the Africa Money and DeFi Summit which is taking place on February 14-15 in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Opera MiniPay is a self-custodial dollar stablecoin wallet seamlessly integrated into the Opera Mini browser for Android users and built on the Celi blockchain.

The platform has unique features to save, sense and receive funds instantly in their mobile phone on very cheap transaction charges. With a mission to onboard millions of users to Web3 across Africa, Celo and Mento Labs aim to provide accessible financial tools through MiniPay embedded in Opera Mini.

Opera MiniPay’s ‘permissionless’ payment platform

Launched in September 2023, Opera MiniPay is a stablecoin wallet built by Opera on the Celo blockchain with the aim of providing Africans with an easy way of saving money and transacting in dollars without having to pass through any cumbersome process. The platform also offers users a way of earning money.

With a vision to enable permissionless payment, the company, through the Celo Foundation, is dedicated to bringing affordable and accessible DeFi to mobile users around the world. Africa is experiencing serious currency instability. Even the continent’s strongest currencies, such as the South African Rand, are considered one of the world’s most undervalued currencies. Opera believes its solution presents a unique opportunity to offer a more stable way to store and send money using digital assets.

Opera, in collaboration with Celo Foundation, designed and built MiniPay, which offers instant wallet-to-wallet fund transfers with minimal fees using mobile phone numbers, easy onboarding and key backup through Google. For on-ramp solutions, Celo’s robust network of FiatConnect partners, such as Fonbnk and Bitmama, helped integrate cUSD, one of the stable assets on the Mento Protocol, which tracks the value of the US Dollar (USD).

This easy-to-use wallet enables users of all experience levels to transfer digital assets for everyday use with speed and efficiency through an intuitive user journey and abstracting the “Connect Wallet” button native to many crypto interfaces. Simple and frictionless, the wallet is one of Web3’s smallest wallets (Coinbase Wallet is 194 megabytes, while MetaMask is 68 megabytes). It was launched first to Opera Mini users in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa, and is compatible with a broad range of low-powered mobile devices.

Speaking about the importance of the platform, Opera’s Executive Vice President of Mobile, Jørgen Arnesen, said users in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa have indicated that even when satisfied with their current payment solutions, there are still lingering concerns about high fees, unreliable service uptimes, a lack of transparency around transaction progress, and mobile data access.

“Therefore, this partnership represents a pivotal moment in the world of digital finance, allowing individuals across Africa to send, receive, and ultimately earn money in a permissionless way,” he said.

MiniPay’s partnership with Celo and Mento Labs

The vision of financial inclusion and economic stability in Africa drives the strategic partnership between the trio companies; MiniPay, Celo, and Mento Labs.

Mento decentralized cUSD (Celo Dollar) stablecoins, integrated into the MiniPay ecosystem, offer multiple advantages, including mitigating currency volatility and providing a reliable store of value. This is especially crucial in regions affected by hyperinflation and economic uncertainty, where stablecoins present a decentralized and accessible alternative to traditional financial services.

Head of Founder Programs at the Celo Foundation, Jason Rodrigues said the Celo community is thrilled to support the growth of its shared mission to create the conditions of prosperity for all, through Opera MiniPay.

“This partnership allows real-world users access to a variety of inclusive financial tools in a seamless, fast, and reliable way,” he said.

“Mento Labs is excited to support the MiniPay rollout that aims to provide affordable and accessible financial services to Opera’s user base in Africa. Focusing on speed, reliability, and financial inclusivity, MiniPay gives users a secure and transparent way to easily store and send funds using stablecoins,” added Markus Franke, CEO at Mento Labs.

See also: Opera Mini adds messaging platform, Hype for customers with limited data plans