Onafriq is winding down Baxi, the agent banking business it has run in Nigeria since 2021. The pan-African payments company said the economics of an offline agent network no longer work in a market reshaped by a weaker naira, high inflation and the rapid spread of instant bank transfers.
The company announced the decision on Friday, 16 October 2026, in a statement shared with Nairametrics and other outlets. It stressed that it is not leaving Nigeria. Its cross-border payments network and card issuing services will keep operating.
What Onafriq is shutting down
The business being closed is Baxi, operated through Onafriq Nigeria Payments Limited. Onafriq bought Baxi, also known as Capricorn Digital Limited, in 2021. That deal gave the company a ready-made network of agents: shopkeepers and kiosk operators who use point-of-sale terminals to offer cash withdrawals, deposits, transfers and bill payments to people who live far from a bank branch or prefer cash.
According to Techeconomy, Onafriq kept investing heavily in the network through 2023 to strengthen and scale it. The company has not published how many agents Baxi had, how much it processed, or what it paid for the business in 2021.
Why the agent model stopped paying
Onafriq pointed to four pressures that built up from 2024 onwards:
- Currency depreciation. The fall in the naira cut into transaction volumes and pushed up the cost of running the network.
- Inflation. Rising prices squeezed both agents and their customers.
- Instant account-to-account transfers. As more Nigerians move money directly from one bank app to another, fewer transactions pass through an agent's terminal, and the mix of what agents handle has changed.
- Competition. More players in payment services meant thinner margins for everyone.
Put together, the company said, these changes made the offline agent model unsustainable for Baxi.
Founder and chief executive Dare Okoudjou was direct about the outcome. "We entered Nigeria with conviction and commitment, but did not achieve the outcome we set out for," he said. He added that "closing this business was a difficult decision to arrive at," noting its effect on colleagues, agents and partners.
The squeeze on cash-out businesses
The reasons Onafriq gives are worth reading closely, because they apply to more than one company. Agent banking in Nigeria earns money on each transaction: a fee for a withdrawal, a cut of a transfer, a commission on a bill payment. When a growing share of everyday payments moves straight between bank apps, the agent sees fewer of those transactions. At the same time, terminals, connectivity, field staff and liquidity support all cost more when the naira is weak and inflation is high.
A network can survive one of those pressures. Facing all of them at once, after several years of investment, Onafriq decided to stop.
What happens to Baxi agents and staff
The company said agents who were onboarded through the Baxi platform have already been moved to another principal bank, which it did not name. Agents have been asked to transfer their funds to their preferred principal bank within 30 days, and Onafriq says its teams will support them through the move.
For agents, the practical steps are simple but time-sensitive:
- Check the balance held in your Baxi wallet or settlement account.
- Confirm which principal bank your account has been moved to.
- Move your funds to the bank you want to work with before the 30-day window closes.
- Keep records of every transfer in case of disputes.
Employees whose roles depend on the agent banking business will be consulted and supported, the company said, adding that it would treat them fairly. It did not say how many jobs are affected. The statement also did not set out any specific arrangements for end customers who used Baxi agents.
What Onafriq keeps in Nigeria
Onafriq will continue to operate in Nigeria as a Payment Solution Service Provider through its cross-border payments network and card issuing business. "Onafriq Group remains strong, with continued growth across its cross-border payments network and card issuing services," the company said.
That focus fits the rest of the group's business. Onafriq built its name connecting mobile money wallets, banks and payment providers across African borders, which is a different line of work from running a network of retail cash points in a single country.
Part of a wider pullback
Onafriq is not the only company scaling back in Nigeria this month. Nairametrics noted that Moove, the mobility company founded in Lagos, announced plans the week before to wind up its Nigerian operations after six years, transferring roughly N35 billion worth of eligible vehicles to existing customers at no cost. Uber shut its Nigerian operations about a month before Moove's announcement, saying it wanted to focus investment where it could create more value for drivers and riders.
Each exit has its own story. Still, the pattern is hard to ignore for founders and investors watching the market. Regulators in the region are also paying closer attention to what happens when fintechs struggle, as our report on Kenya's central bank seeking powers to take over struggling fintechs shows.
For Nigeria's agent banking sector, the Baxi closure raises a pointed question. If instant transfers keep growing and costs stay high, which agent networks have enough scale, or enough other income, to keep their terminals switched on?
