FinTech Chipper Cash To Expand Into Nigeria

Chipper Cash, a no-fee, cross-border payment company started by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled, has expanded into Nigeria, according to a report.

The company, which is based in San Francisco and has offices in Ghana and Kenya, will give people in Nigeria access to its peer-to-peer (P2P) payment service through a partnership with payment gateway company Paystack.

The company, which launched in October of 2018, will set up shop in Lagos. Abiodun Animashaun, the co-founder of the Lagos-based ride-hailing startup Gokada, will serve as country manager.

Animashaun is not the only person leaving a successful African tech venture to join Chipper Cash. Alicia Levine, who works at BRCK, an internet hardware and service startup, will become the company’s chief operating officer.

Both Chipper Cash founders emigrated to the United States to study and work in Silicon Valley. Chipper Cash has more than 70,000 active users and has processed around 250,000 transactions.

In addition to its main product, Chipper Cash also started Chipper Checkout, a fee-based mobile payments product that will also be available in Nigeria within several months.

Serunjogi said the reason for the move to Nigeria was fairly obvious. “Nigeria is the largest economy and most populous country in Africa. Its FinTech industry is one of the most advanced in Africa, up there with Kenya and South Africa,” he said. “I think for any company doing FinTech across borders that is looking to be successful in Africa, it’s imperative [to] have a presence in Nigeria.”

Nigeria is no stranger to tech company expansion. Google recently announced a new addition to Google Maps in Nigeria that will speak in a local voice, and also introduced new features specifically for the region in an attempt to attract more Africans to the service.