Cellulant’s CEO is stepping down four months after the company reduced its workforce by 20%

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January 4, 2024
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2 min read
Cellulant's office
  • Cellulant, a Kenyan payments company, has announced that its CEO, Akshay Grover, is stepping down four months after reducing its headcount by one-fifth.
  • Peter O'Toole, the company's current CFO, will assume the role of Acting CEO and manage all operations.
  • Additionally, the company declared plans to expand its leadership group in the coming months.

Grover, who joined Cellulant in January 2021 as CFO, is leaving to “focus on personal matters.”

Shortly after joining Cellulant, he was appointed Acting CEO in May 2021, following the resignation of Bolaji Akinboro, the company's co-founder, and the departure of Cellulant's longstanding CEO, Ken Njoroge, due to a settled financial misconduct scandal.

“Under his leadership, Cellulant has strengthened its position both on the African continent and internationally. His efforts have been pivotal in enhancing the Cellulant brand and driving the company’s strategic objectives,” a statement says in part.

Cellulant has reaffirmed its intention to continue on its current growth trajectory. For instance, in May 2022, the company partnered with NALA, a Tanzanian cross-border payment company, to facilitate remittance payments from the UK and US into Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ghana.

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Cellulant is an African payments company that offers a single API payments platform for online and offline payments. It connects African companies to local, regional, and international payment options like bank accounts, cards, and mobile money. 

It operates in several countries across Africa, including Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Liberia, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, South Africa, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Egypt.

The payments company takes several payment methods throughout Africa, including international and local cards, mobile money, and direct bank transfers. 

The company has raised $54.5 million in funding. In 2022, Cellulant intended to launch a $100 million series D round of funding, but that plan was shelved.

The company had already reduced its headcount by 27 employees at the start of the year before cutting another 20% of its workforce in August 2023. It also consolidated and created some roles.

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She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.
She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.
She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.

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