Chipper Cash lays off staff again

Chipper Cash, a payments platform in Africa, announced that it conducted a second round of layoffs affecting around one-third of its workforce, about 100 employees, last Friday, just ten weeks after it cut approximately 12.5% of its workforce. The first round of layoffs affected the engineering team the most, while the latest round impacted all areas across its markets, including recruiting, HR, marketing, pricing, product, analytics, UX, research, legal, and more. According to reports, the company has let go of over 150 employees in the last three months to cut costs amid a torrid period for private and public tech companies globally.

CEO Ham Serunjogi explained that the last two years were a period of rapid growth and scaling for the business, and its global headcount grew by around 250 people. However, given the macroeconomic climate, the company is narrowing its current focus to core markets and products, concentrating its efforts where it knows it can thrive. With this hyper-focused prioritisation, the reality is that the company unfortunately needs a smaller team at Chipper.

However, Chipper Cash denied reports that it shut down its crypto department, which houses crypto products, one of its three main products, including FX and airtime. “Chipper is one of the largest crypto platforms in Africa today, and it remains one of our fastest-growing products. We are excited about the future of crypto in Africa and continue to invest in the product,” Serunjogi added.

Chipper Cash was founded in 2018 by Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled to provide Africans with a no-fee peer-to-peer cross-border payment service. The company claims it has over five million customers across Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, and Kenya. Last year, the FTX-backed startup expanded to the US and UK to facilitate peer-to-peer money movement from both countries to select regions in Africa. Last November, the African cross-border payment app announced that it would acquire Zambian fintech company Zoona to expand into Southern Africa.

Chipper Cash joins a list of Africa-focused companies and crypto companies that have laid off employees in recent months, including Jumia, which laid off 900 employees, Yoco, which laid off 15% of its workforce, and Luno, which laid off 35% of its workforce.