Cellulant, one of Africa’s foremost digital payments infrastructure providers, has named Darren Makarem as its new Chief Financial Officer, marking a pivotal milestone in the company’s ongoing executive restructuring. His appointment completes a sweeping leadership overhaul designed to prepare the company for its next era of expansion. With deep experience from global powerhouses such as Agoda, Makarem’s arrival signals Cellulant’s intention to strengthen its financial management, improve operational discipline, and deepen its footprint across Africa’s rapidly evolving payments landscape.
A Strategic Leadership Overhaul
Darren Makarem’s appointment comes on the heels of another high‑level leadership shift: the elevation of Michael Muriuki to Chief Product and Technology Officer. Together, these moves rebuild Cellulant’s executive foundation following a period characterized by leadership transitions and strategic reevaluation.
This refreshed leadership team has been tasked with spearheading the company’s renewed focus on accelerating pan‑African growth while driving forward an ambitious innovation agenda. With the payment ecosystem on the continent becoming increasingly competitive, the new leadership structure aims to deliver stronger accountability, clearer strategic direction, and enhanced execution.
Cellulant CEO Peter O’Toole underscored the significance of Makarem’s customer-centric background. Drawing from his experience on the client-facing side of major global businesses, Makarem is expected to shape a world-class finance organization that mirrors the agility and responsiveness of Cellulant’s payment products. According to O’Toole, this perspective will be instrumental in ensuring that Cellulant’s financial operations evolve to support the company’s scaling ambitions.
Leveraging Deep Global Payments Expertise
Makarem joins Cellulant with a rich portfolio of international experience across finance, payments, and digital infrastructure. Most notably, he previously served as the Global Chief Financial Officer at Agoda, one of the world’s largest online travel platforms. In that role, he oversaw a sizable and highly complex payments ecosystem that processed more than $12 billion annually. His expertise spans multi-currency settlement systems, risk mitigation strategies, and the establishment of resilient, high-availability payments infrastructure, all crucial capabilities for a company operating across diverse African markets.
Darren Makarem professional journey also includes key leadership roles as regional CFO at Binance and CEO of OnRamp. These roles exposed him to digital asset ecosystems, alternative settlement mechanisms, and fast-changing regulatory environments. This background aligns directly with Cellulant’s long-term ambitions to enhance cross-border payment flows, explore new settlement technologies, and navigate the continent’s fragmented regulatory landscape.
Driving Cellulant’s Next Phase of Growth
Makarem’s arrival comes during a moment of strong operational momentum for Cellulant. The company achieved profitability in 2024, a milestone that underscores the strength of its underlying business model. Today, Cellulant processes more than 4.5 million payments every single day and operates in over 20 African countries.
This steady growth gives the reorganized leadership team a solid springboard to expand its reach, refine its products, and strengthen enterprise partnerships. Makarem has emphasized his enthusiasm about joining a company with an already robust infrastructure foundation. His focus, he said, will be on enhancing the financial rigor and operational support necessary to empower teams to innovate boldly without compromising reliability or customer experience.
A core part of Cellulant’s strategy is addressing Africa’s fragmented payments environment by connecting banks, mobile money operators, merchants, and enterprises. One example of this innovation is the company’s Split Payments solution developed with Emirates, which allows customers to combine payment methods and bypass transaction ceilings that typically hinder high-value purchases, a challenge common in many African markets.
The Future of Digital Payments in Africa
Cellulant’s leadership transformation comes at a time of expanding opportunity. Africa’s digital payments industry is expected to surpass $1.5 trillion by 2030, fueled by growing mobile adoption, rapid urbanization, and the digitization of commerce. The continent’s shift toward cashless systems presents ripe opportunities for fintechs that can deliver reliability, scale, and cross-border interconnectedness.
Yet competition in the sector is intensifying. Cellulant faces pressure not only from emerging fintech players but also from legacy banks investing heavily in in-house payment solutions. This makes a strong, globally experienced leadership team essential for securing enterprise deals, differentiating products, and navigating regulatory complexity.
With Darren Makarem now in place as CFO, Cellulant has solidified its executive lineup and demonstrated clear commitment to scaling responsibly and ambitiously. His financial expertise, paired with the company’s sharpened focus on innovation and operational excellence, positions Cellulant to deepen its influence and cement its role as a critical enabler of Africa’s digital economy.
