Notable African Payments Startups That Shut Down Operations in 2023

In the year 2023, the African Fintech landscape experienced significant upheavals, with funding levels woefully down from the post-COVID peak period.

This funding shortfall which is notably a global economic condition, created challenging problems for several African fintech startups.

Due to the challenging problems, it forced some companies to lay off a significant amount of their workforce, while some others tried to keep their business afloat, but eventually had to take the painful route of shutting down operations.

Here is an overview of some notable African startups that shut down operations in 2023;

1.) Dash

Dash, a Ghanaian fintech company with the mission to connect mobile money wallets and bank accounts across Africa, shut down operations in October 2023, after raising $86.1 million in five years.

The company managed to secure substantial funding during its existence. In 2021, it raised an impressive $32.8 million in a single seed round, making it one of the highest-funded African firms. Additionally, Dash secured further funding through convertible notes and debt financing from October 2021 to 2022

During its operation, Dash claimed to have processed $1 billion in transactions and attracted a million users across Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, reflecting a remarkable fivefold increase in its user base within just five months. Despite its promising start, the company shut down its operations following a tumultuous journey filled with accusations of financial misconduct.

Founded in 2019 with the ambitious goal of ensuring interoperability between mobile money wallets and bank accounts throughout Africa, Dash was on a mission to make sending money across Africa simple and efficient.

2.) Zazuu 

Zazuu, a London-based fintech that built a marketplace for African remittance companies and raised more than $2 million, shut down operations in November 2023, citing a lack of funding.

The company disclosed that due to a tough funding climate, it failed to secure a growth funding round despite exploring every option before making the decision.

Zazuu, which started as a simple Facebook and Telegram chatbot informing users of daily FX rates, evolved into a full-blown aggregator that listed more than 17 Africa-focused remittance providers on its platform before its closure. 

Founded by Kay Akinwunmi (CEO), Korede Fanilola (COO), Tosin Ekolie (CTO), and Tola Alade (CDO) in 2018, Zazuu operated on the belief that a marketplace where customers could choose the cheapest remittance option could help lower prices by bringing transparency and increasing competition. 

3.) Pivo

Pivo, a Nigerian fintech that offered banking services to small supply chain businesses, shut down operations one year after raising a $2 million seed round. 

Pivo is said to have closed shop due to unresolved founder conflict, according to sources familiar with the matter. 

The conflict between the founders, Nkiru Amadi-Emina (CEO) and Ijeoma Akwiwu (COO), was said to have led to the company’s deteriorating reputation, business relationships, culture, and team dynamics; thereby significantly affecting Pivo’s chances of raising capital in the future. 

Founded by Nkiru Amadi-Emina (CEO) and Ijeoma Akwiwu (COO) in July 2021, the startup offered banking services to small logistics and haulage businesses in Nigeria’s supply chain sector. 

Pivo wanted to solve the liquidity problem in Africa’s supply chain by providing financing options for supply chain businesses like logistics service providers, clearing and forwarding businesses, and FMCG distributors.

Until the shutdown, Pivo offered two products which include; Pivo Capital, a lending platform, and Pivo Business, a business bank.

4.) Kippa

Kippa did not entirely shut down operations, but the Fintech startup shut down its offline payment product. 

The payment solution enabling users to send and receive payments from customers and perform extended payment transactions disclosed that the closure of the product was driven by concerns related to profitability.

On November 15th, 2023,  the KippaPay product was no longer available for use by merchants. The discontinuation of the product led to the exit of workers in the company in charge of the product. The company however did not disclose the number of staff laid off.