Chipper Cash, Africa’s tech whale, has laid off 15 members of staff in its fourth round of layoffs this year. This follows a six-month-old layoff which saw the bigwig lose about a dozen of their best hands including Alicia Levine, the Chief Operating Officer.
Chipper Cash confirmed the new layoffs in a statement, claiming its business was “doing very well” despite the headwinds reported over the last few months.
“We constantly look to ensure we have as much efficiency as possible within our global organisation, and only a small number of roles were impacted by the minor restructuring,” the organisation said. “No roles in Africa were affected — this year we have expanded teams on the continent. Our business is doing very well and will be profitable in a few months.”
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Not only did people lose their jobs, but Chipper Cash also cut the salaries of its remaining US and UK employees.
Founded by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled in 2018, the fintech unicorn operates an international payment service that allows payment to and fro Africa, South Africa, the UK and the US and five other countries offering services such as zero-fee peer-to-peer transactions, global fund transfers, and assisting merchants with online payments. It also allows users in Nigeria and Uganda to trade cryptocurrency and buy fractional stocks in US-listed companies.
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Although they raised over $300 million in funding and reported valuable growth with over 5 million downloads, Chipper Cash’s recent moves, including organisational restructuring and market focus adjustment, reflect challenges faced by fintech companies because of the current economic uncertainties and increased competition.
Despite increasing its staff base to 450 between 2021 and 2022, Chipper Cash’s growth has faced turbulence due to rising interest rates, and competition from other fintech giants.
