Chipper Cash has announced its “intended acquisition” of the Zoona group, a leading fintech company in Zambia.
“The proposed acquisition,” Laura Kennedy, Vice president for Investment & Corporate Development writes, “will help fast forward Chipper’s expansion across Africa.”
The African startup says that Zoona will help it foster innovation and development of its offerings across payment and remittance services, it will also boost complementary products such as API, disbursements, and transfer solutions.
This is Chipper Cash’s first major acquisition since the fintech was founded.
For Chipper Cash, this is a chance for it to enter the Zambian market. The acquisition will enable the company “broaden its suite of products to include additional online services and an agent network in order to accelerate meeting its ambition to provide the most trusted and accessible financial products for people living in Africa and beyond.“
Brett Magrath, co-founder, and chief executive officer of Zoona, said the purchase will help both companies better serve the people of Africa by combining their resources to better connect consumers and businesses across the continent.
Zoona was founded in 2008 and went on to develop the Tilt service, enabling payments and transfers to any bank or mobile money provider in Zambia via any cash or digital channel, plus a network of more than 450 interoperable agents. Zoona was an early pioneer in the African mobile money payments industry and to date has processed funds totaling more than $3 billion in value. Zoona holds a Payments Systems Business license from the Bank of Zambia.
Serunjogi still serves as the payment company’s President, and so far, has helped it to raise $300 million in venture capital funding and is now valued at $2.2 billion. The Pan-African cross-border payment app is available for use by customers in Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, and Kenya, as well as in the UK and US.
The deal’s financial terms and agreement are currently unknown. Laura Kennedy, however, noted that the transaction remains subject to closure of the deal and approval by the relevant authorities.
This comes as the Pan-African cross-border payment app launched a Virtual card product in Uganda that will enable customers to make international transactions without the need for a bank account.
