Cellulant Strengthens Its Management Team

Cellulant, an African payments company has announced the appointment of several executives from global payment companies into its management team, marking a significant step in its growth plans.

According to Cellulant, the new management hires in technology, compliance, finance and audit are aimed at growing the company’s next phase of growth. The appointments come at a time when Cellulant has refocused its business to achieve operational excellence, customer intimacy, and adherence to risk and regulatory compliance standards.

Commenting on the new appointments, Peter O’Toole, Cellulant’s Acting CEO said, “We are thrilled to welcome these new leaders to Cellulant. Their specific expertise in payments and financial services will play a vital role as we strengthen our capabilities in product growth, service delivery, operational efficiency, and risk management to better serve our ever-growing database of enterprise businesses across the world.”

The new appointments include:

Andy O’Sullivan, Chief Technology Officer (CTO): O’Sullivan has joined Cellulant on the back of a distinguished two-decade career in technology leadership in payment companies in the EMEA. His expertise lies in leading high-performing multicultural technology teams to scale agile delivery, build enterprise architecture and drive strategic technology advancements. He has held several C-level positions at leading payment network companies such as Geidea Group, Network International and Telr. Notably, he co-founded Innovate Payments, culminating in its acquisition by Telr, where, as the CTO of Telr, he focused on expanding merchant acquiring activities and developing transaction processing platforms.

Gbenga Haastrup, Executive Consultant: Governance, Risk and Compliance: Haastrup has over 20 years of experience in Governance, Risk, and Compliance management across fintech, technology and financial services sectors. He will oversee all compliance, legal, regulatory and governance standards, developing a robust risk culture within Cellulant. With a seasoned career spanning executive leadership positions at UMBA, ATB Financial, Interswitch, UBA and Standard Chartered Bank, Haastrup brings a wealth of sector-specific expertise to his new role.

Irene Koki, Group Head of Internal Audit: Koki brings over 15 years of experience in risk and audit roles to Cellulant having worked in financial services, manufacturing, corporate and government organisations. Reporting to Cellulant’s board of directors, she will work closely with the leadership team to drive operational efficiency measures and strengthen organisational governance to support Cellulant’s growth.

Ochebhoya Ekpete, Vice President of Group Finance: With over a decade of experience in the payments industry in Africa and the UK, Ekpete will oversee all corporate finance functions, including financial controllership, financial reporting, tax, pricing and financial planning and analysis. Before his time at Cellulant, Oche held senior finance roles at Thames Water, Reading; Stripe, London; and Interswitch, Nigeria.

Susan Fouche, Group Chief People Officer: Fouche will build on her deep understanding of Cellulant’s vision and people, and draw from her extensive experience in her previous roles at Visa, Barclays and 10x Investments to cultivate a high-performing, engaged workforce. Susan assumes the role after two years of successfully delivering on Cellulant’s organisational design, reward and career mobility frameworks in her previous role as the Vice President, Organisational Effectiveness, Performance, Reward, and Talent Acquisition.