Flutterwave welcomes Kenya’s ARA clearance of wrongdoing

Flutterwave welcomed the withdrawal of claims against the company by the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) in July 2022 and is looking forward to market expansion in Kenya. As a result, Flutterwave has been cleared of wrongdoing. Flutterwave has cooperated with all stages of this review.

This update resolves the ongoing challenge that began when the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) obtained an ex parte court order to examine the bank accounts of several foreign-owned technology companies, including Flutterwave Payments Technology Limited Kenya (Flutterwave Kenya).

“We are pleased to resolve this issue so that we can continue our work with our strategic partners in Kenya, providing innovative payment solutions for companies and individuals in one of the largest and most dynamic economies in Africa,” said Flutterwave Founder and CEO, Olugbenga Agboola. “The fintech sector in Africa, with new entrants and faster growth, attracts a lot of scrutiny and sometimes suspicion. Given the rapid growth and our own status as a first mover, we hope and welcome the opportunity to be transparent about our operations and cooperate with regulators .

Flutterwave is a payment technology company founded in 2016 with a mission to simplify transactions to accelerate international trade and economic growth in Africa. Flutterwave has its headquarters in San Francisco and its main base of operations in, with operations in more than 30 African countries. In a short time, Flutterwave has become a key driver of trade and economic growth in Africa, serving more than one million businesses and processing more than 400 million transactions worth more than $25 billion since its inception.

Flutterwave supports thousands of jobs in Kenya, including Uber drivers, food vendors, and others who rely on the payment platform for their daily income.

“We look forward to continuing our mission to simplify payments for endless possibilities in Kenya. We will continue to be the payment partner of choice for Kenyan businesses that want to start locally and grow globally and foreign companies that want to expand their business in Kenya,” said CEO Agboola.

Flutterwave has made several changes over the past year to ensure all internal governance structures are best in class. It has continued to take steps to strengthen risk and governance and recently hired Emmanuel Efenure from Mastercard, as VP and Head of Risk for Africa. These steps are in addition to existing arrangements with the Big four companies that support independent internal audit programs to support the efforts made internally by the Flutterwave team. All company policies are subject to an annual review conducted by a third-party audit firm in the areas of AML/CFT, data privacy, information security, and finance.

“We take corporate governance and transparency very seriously at Flutterwave,” said Cathy Kinyua, Flutterwave’s Regional Expansion and Partnerships Manager, East Africa. This update should reassure our partners and stakeholders across the continent that we are fully compliant with all regulations and laws in Kenya, as well as all other markets we operate in.”

Also read: Flutterwave starts mass graduate trainer recruitment

Flutterwave’s recent highlights include obtaining a Payment Service Provider and Facilitator License in Egypt, a Switching and Processing License by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) – considered to be the most expensive payment processing license from the CBN – and announced its collaboration with Google Pay. Flutterwave also renewed its operational licenses in Tanzania and South Africa, as well as its IMTO license in Nigeria. In June 2022, the company announced the appointment of OnealBhambani(Ex-Amex) for CFO and Gurbhej Dillon (Ex-GoldmanSachs) as CTO, adding to Flutterwave’s world-class talent.