How to Open and Withdraw from PayPal in Nigeria (2024)

To open a PayPal account in Nigeria, you need to open a business account using a link to another non-US country that supports a business account. One popular country that has been used to open a fully functional Nigerian business PayPal account is Lesotho but a new policy by the Nigerian government made it impossible to link a card to the account for withdrawal.

However, I recently found out how to open a fully functional PayPal account in Nigeria that not only allows you to send and receive money but also allows you to withdraw money from your PayPal account. Here are the steps categorized in distinct sections as follows.

Section 1: Opening and activating your PayPal account

• To get started, visit the Monaco PayPal site using this link.
• The texts on the page might be displayed in French because Monaco is a French-speaking country. You may translate the page to English using the pop-up that shows in your mobile browser, or select the language icon at the right side of the address bar if you are using a desktop.
• Then, click on the “Sign Up” button shown below.

• After that, select “Business Account” and click on the “Continue” button shown below. Do not select the “Personal Account” option.

• On the next screen, fill in your first name, surname, a valid email not already associated with another PayPal account, and your password.
• Then, tick the checkbox below to confirm that “You read and agree to the User Agreement and Privacy Statement”, and finally click on the Agree and Create Account” button at the bottom of the page.

• At this point, an email containing a link to confirm your email address has been sent to your email address. This is to ensure that you have access to the email and that you requested registration using that email.
• Also, the language may be displayed in French, but you can easily click on the blue button reading “Confirmer votre adresse email” if you don’t know how to interpret the words.
• After that, you will see a new page showing that your email has been confirmed. Click on the “Continue” button.
• After confirming your email, you can go ahead to click the “Let’s Go!” as shown below.
• If you viewed and confirmed your email using a different browser or device, it may prompt you to log in using the set email and password. After logging in, find and click on the link prompting you to complete your profile.

• On the next screen, fill in the account type that best describes you. In this case, select “Business” and choose “Private Corporation” as your business type. Then click the “Next” button.

• After that step, fill in the legal business name on the next page as it appears on your valid ID card. Only your first and last names will suffice.
• Next, tick the “Use your legal name” checkbox to use your legal name above as your business/trading name, unless you want to use a different name for your PayPal business account.
• Skip the business registration number section if you don’t have a registered business yet, otherwise, enter it in the next form field.

• Thereafter, select “US Dollar” as your primary currency.
• In the next field requesting your business activity, select the option that best matches what you will be using the account for. If you plan to use your account for freelance writing, or other digital jobs, “Miscellaneous Publishing and Printing”, “Digital Goods”, or Miscellaneous Personal Services” options would be appropriate.
• Next, if you have a business website, select “Yes” and enter your business website in the form field, otherwise, select “No”.

• In the form field for your business phone number, select the appropriate country code (+234 in this case) and enter your valid phone number without the first zero.
• Then, fill in your business or current residential address, postal code, and other relevant fields, and finally click on the “Next” button below.
• If unsure of the postal code or if PayPal cannot validate your address, leave the postal code blank.

• On clicking next above, enter your correct date of birth and select your nationality (Nigeria) on the next page. Make sure these match what is on your valid identity document.
• Then, type in your residential address or tick the “Same as registered business address” checkbox, if it is the same as your business address.
• Finally, click on the “Next” button.

• After that, PayPal may ask you to verify some tax information about your business. Select the appropriate options and click on the submit button. Note that, you don’t have to change anything at this point.

With the above steps, your account should be ready to receive money and send money now. PayPal may require you to further verify your account by linking a card or a bank account.

Lastly, you may want to change the account language from French to English so that emails from your PayPal account will display in English language. To do that;

• Go to Account Settings>Account Preferences and update your preferred language from Français to English.

In the next section, you will see how to open and link a valid US bank account to your Nigerian PayPal account so you can withdraw money from your PayPal account successfully.

Section 2: Opening a linkable bank account

It is impossible to link a Nigerian bank account to PayPal. PayPal allows you to link your Mastercard and Visa card from any Nigerian bank to the platform but these cannot be used to withdraw money from your PayPal account. The only way to withdraw money directly from a PayPal account is by linking it with a supported credit card or US/UK bank account, either of which are often unavailable to Nigerian users.

Earlier, it was possible to link a free virtual US bank from Payoneer, Grey, or GeegPay to PayPal, but recently these stopped working. The one currently working solution is to use a GetCleva account; the steps are shown below.

• First, create your free account on getcleva.com using a mobile or desktop browser.
• Fill in the registration details, ensuring that they correspond with your name and details in your official identity documents (NIN, Voters’ card, or International Passport).
• Confirm your registration by opening and clicking the link sent to your email.
• Next, upload any document as may be required.
• After submitting the required documents, wait for about 24 hours for your account to be verified.
• Once verified, you will get an email saying that your account has been verified.
• Log in to your GetCleva account. You will find a link to open a US bank account in one click. Click on it to create your US bank account.
• You will also find the option to create a US Dollar Mastercard for other transactions after you fund your account.

Now that you have your PayPal linkable bank account, it is time to link it to your PayPal. In the next section, I will show you how to link your newly created US bank account to your PayPal account to send, receive, and withdraw money from your account.