Pan-African cross-border payment startup Chipper Cash has acquired a license to provide money transfer Value Added Services in Malawi, the company’s current VP of Global Developer Relations, Wiza Jalakasi, announced in a tweet on Thursday.
The license was issued by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), in accordance with Section 39 of the East African country’s Communications Act 2016 (PDF), according to a copy of the notice letter shared by Jalakasi. The license took effect on December 23, 2022.
Probably nothing pic.twitter.com/diqUd5he7t
— Wiza Jalakasi (@wizaj) January 19, 2023
The notice letter issued by the regulatory agency reads in part, “A licence is hereby granted to Chipper Payment Services Limited (“the Licenses”) in respect to the provision of Application Services to provide money transfer Value Added Services with effect from the Effective Date.
“This Licence is issued subject to the terms and conditions hereto, and to any other terms and conditions and promises of performance that may from time to time be incorporated herein under the Communications Act and the Regulations thereto Failure to comply with any term and condition may lead to suspension or revocation of this Licence.”
With this Valued Added Services license, the fintech unicorn can enter the Malawian market, albeit one marked by regulatory hiccups.
This January, Pan-African pay-TV operator MultiChoice got fined around €93,800 by the MACRA over breaches of its license conditions, according to local reports.
As of the reporting time, Chipper Cash has not issued an official statement on the license acquisition.
