Flutterwave, an African payments technology company, has appointed Mitesh Popat as its new Chief Financial Officer.
This comes nearly ten months after Oneal Bhambani, the previous CFO, ended his tenure in November 2023.
Popat will be responsible for overseeing Flutterwave’s corporate finance functions, ensuring effective resource management, and driving business execution. He brings 20 years of global financial services experience, having held executive roles at Citi and Global Equities Sales and Trading.
At Citi, Popat served as CFO for the Middle East and Africa, managing operations in 29 countries and leading financial strategies for Global Equities Sales and Trading.
Popat highlighted his extensive experience in Africa and his understanding of the complexities of managing businesses in emerging markets. He plans to use this expertise to grow Flutterwave and optimize its business model for long-term profitability.
He also expressed enthusiasm about collaborating with the team to strengthen Flutterwave’s financial standing and operational efficiencies.
Flutterwave’s Founder and CEO, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, welcomed Popat and noted that his expertise would benefit both enterprise merchants and retail remittance customers, as well as the broader African fintech ecosystem.
It’s notable that Flutterwave discontinued its virtual card service, Barter, and its no-code platform, Disha, in Q1 2024 due to shifting customer needs and market trends. Barter had represented just 1% of Flutterwave’s $2 billion in transactions at the time.
Popat’s hiring reflects Flutterwave’s trend of bringing in talent from larger or more established firms. The previous CFO also came from a major company, American Express. In 2023, Flutterwave recruited several new executives from notable companies like PayPal, Stripe, and Western Union.
This leadership strengthening, including the addition of a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) director to the board, comes as Flutterwave plans to go public. In August 2023, the company’s CEO announced its IPO plans, and almost three months later, the former CFO departed after an 18-month tenure.
