Chams believes mobile money and cross-border payments will fuel growth after government fiasco

When Mayowa Olaniyan was appointed GMD/CEO of Chams Holding Company Plc in December 2022, she believed the company’s shares were undervalued. Fourteen months on, Chams’ share price is ₦2.50kobo, up from 50 Kobo in 2022.

“The share price has begun to reflect the proper value of the organisation,” Olaniyan told TechCabal on a call.

Investors are rewarding Chams for a decision to move on from government clients after it lost $100 million executing a contentious national identity project.

“We no longer deal with the government. We only deal with consumer projects; that means serving you,” said Demola Aladekomo, the company’s chairman.

One important part of that shift is a holding company structure for Chams. Its subsidiaries will now compete across various spaces in financial services: mobile money, cross-border payments and education financing.

Its switching subsidiary, ChamsSwitch, will focus on cross-border transactions and provide gateway payments. The subsidiary believes there’s a profitable business solving payment bottlenecks for traders buying goods from international partners.

“The volume of business transactions in Computer Village at Ikeja that come from China is huge, and there is no means of payment.”

Chams honours directors at a meeting last year

ChamsSwitch partnered with UnionPay in July 2023, a Chinese financial services corporation that provides bank card services within China. That partnership, along with an integration with Nigerian banks, will allow the subsidiary to issue UnionPay cards that support international payments.

“Providus Bank should go live by the end of Q1 2024.” Wema Bank and Heritage Bank are also among the financial institutions being onboarded.

CardCentre is taking a slice, but now it wants the whole pie

If you own a debit or SIM card, the odds are that CardCenter, a Chams subsidiary, produced it.

An August 2022 ban on SIM card importation means only local players can manufacture these cards. The subsidiary produces five million cards weekly (SIM and debit cards) and plans to expand its production lines. In July 2023, CardCentre added a second line for card production.

CardCentre already produces SIM cards for MTN Nigeria and expects to produce cards for Airtel Nigeria too. It also plans to expand to other African countries and look to its foreign partners to help achieve its ambitions.

In addition to its ambitious expansion plan, CardCentre wants to undergo a backward integration to fully produce cards in Nigeria. It does import a few components to help personalize these cards, but Nigeria’s foreign exchange volatility is forcing the firm to embrace local production to save costs.

Chams’ bet on the NGX

As Chams’ share price continues to stabilise the NGX, boosting investors’ confidence, Olaniyan says listing on the NGX is “best for sustainability, continuity, and accountability.” This is despite the scrutiny that comes with being listed which many tech startups may be avoiding.

While it remains a leader across different tech sectors, Chams, through its subsidiaries—ChamsSwitch, ChamsMobile, CardCentre, and ChamsAccess—is building investor confidence that could see further growth on the NGX by the end of the year.