African payments giant Flutterwave has appointed Mitesh Popat as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), nine months after the departure of former CFO Oneal Bhambani. Popat brings over two decades of experience in global financial services across different markets to the fintech company.
Before joining Flutterwave, Popat held key executive roles at Citi, including CFO for the Middle East and Africa, as well as Global Equities Sales and Trading. He will be heading Flutterwave’s corporate finance functions.
Popat will be instrumental in driving Flutterwave’s next phase of growth and financial sustainability.
Popat said “I have a deep understanding of the operating environment in Africa and the complexity of operating an emerging market business and I plan to bring my experience in growing Flutterwave, while optimizing our business model for sustained profitability,” he said.
Popat’s appointment follows a period of notable leadership changes at Flutterwave. Bhambani, who Popat replaces, left the company just 18 months after joining. In March 2024, Chief Operating Officer Bode Abifarin also exited after six years with the company. These high-profile exits had raised eyebrows about Flutterwave’s much-anticipated IPO plans.
The timing of Popat’s hiring aligns with Flutterwave’s strategic shift towards enterprise and remittance services. In March 2024, the company shut down Barter, its virtual card and international payments service that it launched in 2017. Additionally, Flutterwave has relaunched its international remittances product, Send App, and introduced new offerings to support local businesses with international currency exchanges.
Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola had this to say “As our new CFO, his work will be adding value to our customers—both enterprise merchants and retail remittance customers—as well as the African fintech ecosystem,” Agboola said.
With Popat at the financial helm, Flutterwave is positioning itself to solidify its presence in the African fintech landscape while pursuing sustainable growth.
