Ethiopian Startup Chapa Helps Businesses Accept Any Digital Payment

Ethiopian FinTech startup Chapa has launched an online payment gateway for Ethiopian businesses and said it aims to expand its offering across East Africa and then across the continent.

With this product, Ethiopian businesses can accept all digital payment methods from anywhere in the world, Disrupt Africa reported Monday (Sept. 12).

“Chapa’s mission is to empower Ethiopian entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive in the global economy,” Chapa Co-founder and CEO Nael Hailemariam said in the report.

The company’s payment application programming interfaces (APIs) can be integrated into any digital platform by adding only six lines of code, according to Chapa’s website.

With access to secure digital payment solutions, Ethiopian businesses can serve both local and international customers, the company said on its website.

“It has been [about] three weeks since the official launch, and we have already started to see great projects running on Chapa,” the company wrote in a Sept. 3 blog post.

Among the payment methods these businesses can accept with Chapa’s API is PayPal, the company wrote.

“Millions of donors and customers couldn’t easily pay Ethiopian businesses, and that’s the opportunity that has just been made available to everyday Ethiopian businesses,” the company wrote in the post. “Now Ethiopian merchants can accept payments from PayPal users worldwide easily.”

As PYMNTS reported Monday (Sept. 12), it was revealed earlier this month that International Finance Corporation (IFC), a sister organization of the World Bank, is purchasing a $160 million stake in Safaricom Ethiopia, joining existing investors Safaricom, Vodacom Group, Vodafone Group and CDC Group, an international consortium that last year won a contract to build and operate telecommunications networks in Ethiopia.

Read more: Beyond VCs, Public Investments Further Africa’s Digital Transformation Agenda

The IFC’s capital investment will be used by Safaricom Ethiopia to build much-needed infrastructure in the East African country, increase network coverage and expand internet access.

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