• Flutterwave, one of Africa’s largest fintech firms, has regained $50 million after recent charges of financial impropriety were dropped by the Kenyan government.
• Last year the East African country’s government had 62 bank accounts and assets therein seized by the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA).
• There is no news yet if fellow fintech Chipper Cash will also get its own charges dropped by the government.

The Kenyan government has dropped charges it had for US-founded, pan-African fintech unicorn Flutterwave, which is now set to recoup over $50 million in previously frozen funds.

Last year, fintech firms Chipper Cash and Flutterwave faced lawsuits from the Kenyan government and the Central Bank of Kenya alleging that neither fintech was licensed to operate as a financial payments or remittance provider in the East African country.

“It has come to the attention of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) that Flutterwave Payments Technology Limited and Chipper Technologies Kenya (Chipper) have been engaging in money remittance and payments services without licensing and authorization by CBK,” said CBK supervision deputy director, Matu Mugo, at the time.

“You are therefore directed to immediately cease and desist from dealing with Flutterwave and Chipper,” added Mugo.

One of the suits filed by the Kenyan government charged Flutterwave, originally founded in the US by two Nigerians, with “financial impropriety,” with further allegations that bank accounts belonging to both companies were being used for fraudulent operations.

The Kenyan Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) was then directed to freeze the assets in 62 bank accounts belonging to Flutterwave, and four Kenyans, according to the Kenyan Wall Street.

The charges were apparently withdrawn last week by the Kenyan government, and the ARA filed a notice to drop its own suit and lift the asset freezing order.

It has not been stated by the Kenyan government why it decided to drop the charges, but it is notable that Flutterwave co-founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola flew into Kenya last week to get a license from the CBK to run operations.

Flutterwave has denied any allegations of financial impropriety from the beginning and now welcomes the withdrawal of charges.

“Flutterwave welcomes the withdrawal of claims against the company by the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) in July 2022 and looks forward to market expansion in Kenya. As a result, Flutterwave has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Flutterwave has fully cooperated with all stages of this review,” the company said in a statement published last week Thursday.

The decision to drop the charges is a step in the right direction for other Nigerian fintech operating in Kenya, like Korapay Technologies Ltd, Kandon Technologies Ltd, RemX Capital Ltd, Avalon Offshore Logistics Ltd, and OIT Africa Limited who all had funds frozen by the ARA due to suits it filed from 2020 to last year.

It is not yet known if the charges will also be dropped for Chipper Cash which was in the same boat as Flutterwave,

[Image – Flutterwave]