Ken Njoroge, one of the co-founders and CEO of Cellulant, a pan-african payments company has announced that he would be leaving the company in 2021.
He made this announcement via a blogpost last week. In his own words, he said, “After 18 years of running Cellulant, I have decided that 2021 will be my last year as CEO.”
Cellulant is a company that provides a platform that powers the internet of payments with dominant market position across 12 Sub-Saharan countries – Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Malawi.
Cellulant’s payment infrastructure and ecosystem gives governments, donors, corporate businesses, merchants, retailers, agents and consumers access to payment instruments (cards, bank accounts, wallets & premium rated short-codes), stores of value (banks, mobile money accounts & prepaid cards/tokens), and payment channels (agents, apps, web portals & payment APIs for shopping cart checkout)
Cellulant was founded by Kenyan Ken Njoroge and Nigerian Bolaji Akinboro.
Ken mentioned two factors that solidified his reason to leave the company this year.
Firstly, in August 2020, we suffered a major internal crisis that saw my co-founder exit the business. It wasn’t the crisis, but the process that followed, which gifted me the clarity that the next phase needed an ‘enterprise runner’ rather than a ‘venture builder’. As a natural builder, this reflection allowed me to see that I had given the business the best of my abilities in establishing an enduring business, built on strong governance, systems and culture.
I know this because, despite the COVID pandemic and a crisis, the business was unshakable. We came out of 2020 sharper, more focused and energized around our customers. The most critical technology, product, service & growth transformation happened over the last few months.
For me, people have always been the most rewarding part of the job. From clients to employees, seeing how tangibly the work we do impacts people has always fueled me. The last few years have pushed me to become more of a coach than a boss, and as a result, I take the development of the teams very seriously. About a month ago, I woke up and read a board document that had been prepared by my team, and in the first few lines, I knew my job was done. They were ready, and it was time for me to let them ride the Lion with a runner as their leader.
The Second sign came from my family who have been part of the journey every step of the way. I have spent the last 16 years of our marriage focusing 85% of my time and energy on the business. It’s time to balance that equation. My wife humorously introduces Cellulant as her first-born child or her co-wife, because they’ve felt the ripple effects of any storm that was happening at work. Now that even the children are old enough to have an opinion on the business, let us just say, I have a second board of directors at home. A few weeks ago, when I shared my decision to leave my position as CEO with my family, my teenage daughter looked at me and said: “Dad, it’s time”. Though this was only a moment out of a larger ongoing conversation, the certainty and finality of that statement was the lightbulb I needed. It became clear that this was the perfect moment to jump.
Ken Njoroge says he will transition from his role as the CEO by the end of June this year and spend the rest of the year supporting all the teams and the new leader in the transition. He will remain a shareholder and director on the board.
He however did not mention the name of the new leader.
