Chpter opens a new chapter for social commerce in Africa
Kenyan startup, Chpter, which helps businesses sell on chat apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, has expanded into 11 new African markets through a deal with fintech company Flutterwave. This expansion to new African markets including Ghana, Egypt, Uganda, and Rwanda, is building on the startup’s presence in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.
Merchants in these countries will have access to Chpters social commerce infrastructure, enabling them to accept payments in local currencies or USD through mobile money, cards, and bank transfers, while Flutterwave will process and settle the transactions on the backend.
Why this matters: Africa’s commerce is moving into DMs. With the number of WhatsApp users in Africa projected to reach 135.44 million by 2029, e-commerce will no longer be about websites but conversations. Chpter is riding on that wave with 60% of inbound traffic coming from chat apps, and thousands of merchants signing on.
What’s new with AI: Chpter is going AI-first. It has rolled out AI sales and support agents, with 45% of all customer interactions already being handled by bots. Their goal is to push that figure to 80% as the tech improves. The company is also betting that good automation paired with localised pricing could make Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) finally work at scale across Africa. It recently launched Pluto, its WhatsApp API suite that allows developers and businesses to build full customer journeys on WhatsApp.
But will the AI-heavy, subscription-based model prove sticky in these new markets? Chpter is betting on infrastructure and earlier achieved momentum. Can it turn this momentum into staying power across 14 very different African markets?
