Chipper Cash to acquire Zambian fintech pioneer Zoona
Pan-African cross-border payments app Chipper Cash is set to acquire Zambian fintech company Zoona Transactions International, according to a statement shared with TechCabal.
This acquisition will allow Chipper Cash, which has a self-reported user base of 5 million, to add new online services and a new agent network to its offerings. This move is also an expansion strategy from the company into Zambia.
According to Chipper Cash’s VP of Corporate Development, Laura Kennedy, Zoona’s acquisition will offer it “incredible innovation, a great partner network, complementary products and services, and talented in-country teams.” For Zoona’s co-founder and CEO, Brett Magrath, this acquisition allows the two companies to combine their expertise to connect consumers and businesses across the continent, while positioning themselves as the first choice financial services provider for the people of Africa.
Zoona pioneered the Zambian technology ecosystem when it was founded in 2008, developing the Tilt service which enables individuals and companies to pay and transfer to banking and mobile money providers in the country through cash, its digital channel or its network of over 450 interoperable agents. The fintech, whose rise coincides with the start of Africa’s mobile money industry, has processed over $3 billion worth of transactions since its launch. In 2020, the Zambian company sold its operations in Malawi to Cape Town-based payments company Mukuru as it refocused its operations to a B2B model.
CEO Ham Serunjoji co-founded Chipper Cash with Maijid Moujaled, who currently serves as the payments company’s president, in 2018 to offer fee-free personal and cross-border payments to Africa. Since then, it has raised $300 million in venture capital funding and is now valued at $2.2 billion. The services are available in Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya, as well as in the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Bringing these companies together under the Chipper umbrella will mean we can open up even more borders, bring high-quality financial services to life in more countries and connect more people across the continent,” Kennedy said.
Chipper Cash did not share the financial terms of the transaction. The acquisition agreement is also subject to approval from the relevant authorities.
