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Chipper Cash and Payday, two prominent financial technology companies led by Ugandan tech tycoon Ham Serunjogi, and Nigerian tech entrepreneur Favor Ori, have assisted Elon Musk’s SpaceX in processing over $400,000 in payments for its Internet and high-speed connectivity service, Starlink.
Serunjogi, the co-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash, announced via his official Twitter account that users in Nigeria have already spent over $100,000 on their SpaceX Starlink kits using ChipperCash Visa Cards.
Likewise, Ori, who launched his fintech startup Payday less than two years ago, tweeted that his platform has facilitated more than $300,000 in payments for Starlink since its launch, stating, “We’ve helped Starlink process over $300,000 since launch.”
By facilitating payments for the Starlink setup kit and monthly subscription fee in Nigeria, these two fintech startups led by Serunjogi and Ori are playing a key role in helping Starlink, a satellite internet service owned by SpaceX, gain a foothold in Africa’s largest economy.
Elon Musk’s Starlink launch in Nigeria hindered by purchasing challenges
With its constellation of orbiting satellites, Starlink provides high-speed, low-latency broadband internet, and its recent approval to operate in Nigeria marks a major milestone in its expansion into the continent. The company is also eyeing launches in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Mozambique later this year, pending regulatory approval.
The rollout of Starlink in Nigeria is particularly exciting news for a country that has struggled with inadequate internet infrastructure and slow internet speeds. Unfortunately, purchasing Starlink kits and subscribing to its services has proved to be challenging for Nigerians, given the recent suspension of virtual dollar card services by major fintechs, such as Flutterwave and Eversend.
The ongoing forex scarcity crisis has prompted Nigerian banks to suspend international transactions on naira cards.
Only, a few forward-thinking fintech firms, including ChipperCash and Payday, continue to offer virtual dollar card services, albeit at higher exchange rates due to the difficulty of sourcing forex.
