E-Financial
Kuda Appoints New Management Officers, Sets for International Expansion
Kuda, the Money App for Africans is poised to stamp its footprint in the global banking industry with the appointment of Pavel Khristolubov and Elena Lavezzi as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), respectively at the group level.
The appointments, which were the outcome of a diligent recruitment process aimed at acquiring fit-for-purpose candidates to help in driving the vision and mission of the financial institution, were recently announced by the Board of Directors of Kuda Technologies Limited.
Pavel Khristolubov joined Kuda Technologies Limited from the Tinkoff Bank, a commercial bank in Eastern Europe, where he was responsible for managing efficiency of the workforce both on product development teams and operational platforms.
During his tenure as COO, the bank’s client base grew from seven million to 22 million active clients, and his focus was to keep quality and cost levels under control and implementation of required processes and approaches to scale product and operations teams to meet the challenges of growth.
Prior to his work at Tinkoff Bank, he served as a member of the executive team of DXC Luxoft, a software development company, supporting the company’s growth from the very start to when it became a global player with 20,000 engineers working across 20 countries and locations of the world.
His responsibilities included establishing company processes and ensuring efficiency of its management, and onboarding of acquired companies.
Similarly, Elena Lavezzi, an Italian, brings with her, a vast experience garnered over the years from reputable fintech companies including Circle, a global firm that is at the forefront of digital currency innovation, where she rose to the position of Director, Go-To-Market Retail Europe.
More recently, Lavezzi led the Southern European region at Revolut for three years, overseeing growth, business development and marketing before shifting her focus to regulatory matters last year.
Lavezzi had earlier worked at Uber where she served as Marketing Manager for four years. She helped Uber launch in the Italian market before moving on to support the growth of the Indian market.
On his appointment at Kuda Technologies, the new COO said he is excited to join the management team and is looking forward to making his contributions towards the achievement of the overall corporate goals.
“When investors from Target Global introduced me to the Co-Founder of Kuda, Babs Ogundeyi, I learned a story of an ambitious business enterprise, driven by very humane and people-centric values.
“I believe in the mission of the company and hope my experience and efforts will help it along the way to realisation of our goals,”stated Khristolubov.
In her remarks, Lavezzi, informed that she is fascinated by the amazing team that drives the corporate goals as well as Kuda’s offering.
“The team is amazing. All the people I have met are very talented and have a clear vision of what they want to build. Kuda is building a strong product, providing financial services through its apps and allowing millions of people with internet access to operate a spending account, access instant credit, save money automatically and earn annual interest without the burden of traditional bank charges,”Lavezzi stated.
Talking about the expansion plans of the company, Lavezzi added: “Kuda is well recognised in the African market, and has very ambitious expansion plans for the next few months.
“Backed by top tier venture capitalists like Target Global and Valar that have over a decade of experience in partnering with the most visionary founders across different industries around the world, I believe Kuda has all the ingredients to become a fintech leader in Africa and even beyond”.
Kuda (via its operating entity, Kuda MFB Limited) provides financial services to over four million Nigerians through its suite of mobile and web apps. Its customers can operate a spending account, access instant credit, save money automatically and earn annual interest without paying traditional bank charges such as card maintenance fees, account maintenance fees and excessive transfer fees.
Titan Trust Bank has selected Oracle FSS for its core and digital banking technology, it is understood.
The start-up bank recently obtained its license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It’s understood that Temenos and Infosys also competed for the deal.
The shortlist came down to the two most widely installed international core systems in Nigeria, Infosys’ Finacle and Oracle FSS’s Flexcube.
The Nigerian banking sector has seen a great deal of upheaval over the years, with many mergers, start-ups and closures. Flexcube is a well respected name since the late 1990s (the pioneer was Access Bank, now one of the country’s top five banks) and has been a commonly selected platform since then.
The new bank is believed to be one of five to have gained regulatory approval of late (Globus Bank is another).
Local media sources say the new licences stem from the Central Bank’s desire to attract new investments into the sector and better serve the country’s 50 million+ unbanked and under-banked citizens.
Titan Bank is said to be headed by a former executive director of Heritage Bank (which is a Finacle user).
Oracle FSS did not respond to request for comment.
International Monetary Fund (IMF), has appointed Tony Elumelu, Nigerian billionaire and group chairman of Heirs Holdings, owners of United Bank of Africa, to its advisory council on entrepreneurship and growth, convened by Kristalina Georgieva, the fund managing director.
The announcement was disclosed in a statement on Friday.
According to the statement, the IMF advisory council comprises global business leaders, policymakers, and academics dedicated to identifying and addressing regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship.
The IMF said Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurship is central in policy making.
“Elumelu, Africa’s leading advocate of entrepreneurship and whose Foundation has funded, mentored, and trained over 25,000 African entrepreneurs since 2015, champions entrepreneurship as the engine for the economic transformation of Africa,” the statement reads.
“A self-made entrepreneur, Elumelu’s embracing of entrepreneurship is fundamental to his concept of Africapitalism, his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, making long-term investments that deliver social and economic value.
“Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurial potential is central to global economic policy making.”
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the advisory council on March 26, Georgieva said the appointees would share their experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies “can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity — key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth”.
Africa’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, fintech industry, scaling remittances, and cross-border payments will be the driving forces behind the continent’s digital ballooning payments system, which is estimated to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.
This is according to a MasterCard-commissioned study by Genesis Analytics, which states that the digital payments economy is growing faster on the continent.
This comes as the World Bank says Sub-Saharan Africa has shown significant growth in financial inclusion over the past decade, much of it driven by mobile money account adoption.
Dimitrios Dosis, president, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at MasterCard, comments: “Africa is filled with immense possibilities, and its people have the potential to shape the global economy in the decades ahead.
“MasterCard remains deeply committed to driving digital transformation across the continent, working closely with entrepreneurs, merchants, banks, start-ups, telcos, and governments. By increasing our investments, expanding innovation, and fostering inclusion, we are helping build a more connected and accessible digital future.”
The payment technology company went on to say as a longstanding technology partner to Africa, its continues to strengthen its commitment to the continent’s digital growth through strategic investments, public-private partnerships, and innovation initiatives that drive financial health and economic growth.
In addition, it says trends in Africa signal a strong shift towards digital transactions, with businesses and consumers increasingly embracing contactless solutions, further accelerating economic participation and financial accessibility across the region.
“For over five decades, MasterCard has worked alongside African governments, businesses, and communities to advance financial inclusion and economic development.
“With Africa projected to host nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies, we are focused on leveraging our expertise and a technology to support the continent’s continued digital transformation.
“Our investments today will help build a more resilient economy for the future,” says Mark Elliott, division president, Africa, MasterCard
By fostering collaboration with key stakeholders, MasterCard says it aims to enhance digital connectivity, expand economic opportunities, and enable millions of people and businesses to thrive in the digital economy.
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