The layoffs at Chipper Cash follow a series of other cost-cutting measures the company has taken in recent weeks, including reducing its headcount by 12.5% last Friday just ten weeks after it cut approximately 12.5% of its workforce affecting its engineering team the most. The cross-border payments platform is now looking to reduce expenses further and hoping that these latest layoffs will lessen the impact on customer service and innovation.
Given the recent layoffs at Chipper Cash, many people are wondering what this means for the company’s future. It’s likely that things will be difficult going forward, as none of Chipper Cash’s markets are immune to the recessionary effects of low demand in the banking and financial services sectors. Given that Chipper Cash is a recruitment company, it will continue to be affected disproportionately by unemployment rates in certain parts of the world.
The layoffs at Chipper Cash come as the payments company encounters tough times in the private and public tech sectors. Many startups are struggling to contend with tumbling stock prices, tightening budgets, regulatory uncertainties and other headwinds. The implosion of ride-hailing giant Uber has exemplified how quickly a startup can go from being one of Silicon Valley’s most celebrated success stories to an emblem of crisis and downfall.
Ham Serunjogi, CEO of Chipper, has made the decision to reduce the company’s global headcount by around 250 people, primarily because of unfavorable economic conditions. This hyper-focused prioritization will allow Chipper to concentrate its efforts in key markets and products where it is most successful. This ultimately means that some employees will lose their jobs, but the company feels that this is necessary for its longterm growth.
Chipper Cash has denied reports that it shut down its crypto department, which houses crypto products, one of its three main products. Instead, Chipper is investing in the product further and remains one of the largest platforms for trading cryptocurrencies in Africa today.
Chipper Cash is a startup that provides Africans with a no-fee peer-to-peer cross-border payment service. It has over 5 million customers across Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya and has recently expanded to the United States and United Kingdom. The company says that it facilitates money movement between these countries and selected regions in Africa to help improve the economic development of these regions.
The collapse of FTX, which has been called the ‘crypto exchange with a conscience’, has shaken the African fintech industry, with investors such as SVB Capital and Ribbit Capital retreating from its valuation. This may indicate that there are still some uncertainties around the sector, despite recent positive announcements like African cross-border payment app’s acquisition of Zambian fintech company Zoona.
Amidst an uncertain economic climate, layoffs are becoming more common in the Africa-focused tech sector. ChipperCash, a crypto company that allows users to pay each other using Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum, has laid off a significant number of employees in recent months. Jumia, Yoco and Luno have all announced layoffs in the past few months alone. The uncertain economy is causing companies to reduce their workforce in order to keep costs down and remain profitable.
