With this approval, Kippa will build its network of merchants, providing them with the infrastructure and tools to offer financial products and services to their customers.

Leveraging its strong merchant distribution across all 36 states of Nigeria, Kippa merchants can now accept offline payments from customers and, more importantly, increase customer footfall, customer retention and business revenue by offering financial products and services on Kippa’s infrastructure.

The most recent report by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) shows that around 49.3 million business owners are spread across the country, mostly micro-entrepreneurs mainly driven by service and trade.

Kippa’s license issuance comes off the back of its recent appointment of Niyi Ajao, former Deputy Managing Director at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), as Chairman, and Oluwatoyin Albert as Executive Director for Payment Services.

“We’ve done an incredible job acquiring and onboarding merchants from all nooks and crannies of Nigeria. We aim to further empower these merchants by providing them with the tools and infrastructure to provide financial services to their customers. This is already yielding results”, Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph, CEO of Kippa, explains.

Looking at our counterparty data, merchants activated on KippaPay are in the 90th percentile of Kippa merchants regarding customer retention: so, they have more customers, and a higher number of transactions per customer”, Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph adds.

“We are excited to offer further financial services to our merchants, which align with the CBN’s broader financial inclusion strategy. We are fully aware of the existing regulatory framework and requirements and will continue to drive our initiatives to millions of Nigerians while engaging all stakeholders concerned”, Toyin Albert, Executive Director, Payment Services, says.

Kippa launched in June 2021 as an all-inclusive financial management platform for businesses. The company has served over 500,000 merchants within its network, recording annualised transaction value of over $3 billion.

The post Kippa Receives Licence to Operate as Super Agent appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Osagie Alonge is a journalist and digital marketing veteran who initially worked at TeamApt and OPay where he led marketing functions across different finance and logistics products for African SMEs. 

He was the head of integrated marketing communication at TeamApt, a Lagos-based fintech company providing financial solutions. Before this, he spent two and a half years growing the OPay marketing team, where he was head of Marketing as well. 

Again, he was an editor at Pulse Nigeria where he accumulated his journalism experience for over five years.

He has garnered significant industry experience and has a profound understanding in ensuring small businesses attain value leveraging technology and marketing.

Although Kippa has over 70 employees across Africa and affirms to have 500,000 registered merchants, Alonge will help scale the company’s growth beyond this. 

Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph, Co-Founder and CEO of Kippa, said:  “When I met Osagie, his leadership, maturity and vanishingly rare quality of getting involved in the most practical ways possible. Our mission and traction to date stood out to him, and I am thrilled he is joining Kippa’s executive team”.

Commenting on his appointment, Osagie Alonge said: “Joining the Kippa team has been a wholesome experience so far. The team is vibrant and clear about its mission. I’m excited to work with people passionate about solving problems. The one thing that motivated me to join the team was its passion for innovation is inspiring. I look forward to becoming a valued contributor to this phenomenal team—to further drive Kippa’s mission in Africa by providing the most essential and valuable financial services for African business owners.”

Osagie would be joining a team of experienced professionals, including Toyin Albert, Stephen Abah and Maneesha Negi, in leading the building and marketing of Kippa’s Financial Technology Products, which has proven to influence how micro businesses receive payments in Nigeria significantly.

The post Kippa Appoints Osagie Alonge as Director of Marketing  appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.