Head of Legal, Regulatory & Compliance – Financial Services, West Africa

M-KOPA is a fintech and digital financial services company that provides smartphones and a range of financial products to everyday earners across sub-Saharan Africa, operating in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. The company uses an asset-financing model that allows customers to make an initial deposit on a smartphone and then pay it off through affordable daily, weekly, or monthly installments, building a credit history in the process. This approach has enabled M-KOPA to serve over 10 million customers and unlock more than $2 billion in credit for individuals who are largely excluded from traditional financial systems. M-KOPA's suite of services extends beyond device ownership to include digital loans, health insurance, device protection, and affordable data bundles, all designed to expand economic opportunity for low-income populations. The company also operates a large network of over 35,000 sales agents, many of whom are themselves beneficiaries of the economic empowerment model M-KOPA promotes. M-KOPA has been recognized among the world's top fintech companies and continues to scale its impact across the African continent. While M-KOPA is primarily categorized as a fintech company, its roots are in the renewable energy and pay-as-you-go solar sector, where it pioneered off-grid solar solutions for underserved communities before expanding into smartphones and broader financial services. This evolution reflects the company's enduring mission to connect underserved populations to transformative technologies and financial tools that improve quality of life and drive sustainable economic inclusion.

We are looking for a Head of Legal, Regulatory & Compliance – Financial Services, West Africa, to join our Legal group, as we scale up and drive digital and financial inclusion across our markets.

The regulatory architecture for digital finance in West Africa is being built right now

That is not a metaphor. The DCSP framework in Ghana, the evolving fintech regulatory environment in Nigeria, the supervisory expectations around digital credit and consumer lending at scale — these are in active formation. For a senior financial services regulatory professional, this is precisely the moment to be in the room.

M-KOPA has extended more than $2 billion in credit to over 7 million customers across seven markets — 55% of whom are accessing formal financial products for the first time. Regulatory leadership is not peripheral to that mission. It is foundational to it.

What this role carries

This is a group-wide leadership position with particular depth in West Africa, reporting to the Director of Compliance. The scope includes ownership of M-KOPA's financial services regulatory strategy, senior engagement with regulators and industry bodies in Nigeria and Ghana, and direct accountability for licensing and authorisation processes — including the DCSP licence in Ghana and financial services licensing in Nigeria.

Day-to-day, the role spans regulatory horizon-monitoring and impact assessment, partnering with Product and Credit to embed regulatory requirements into new product development from the outset, and overseeing responses to examinations, regulatory reporting, and high-stakes supervisory submissions. It also carries responsibility for maintaining and improving compliance policies, regulatory playbooks, and control frameworks, and for driving training and first-line regulatory ownership across markets.

What this role requires

A proven track record in financial services compliance, regulatory affairs, or in-house legal/regulatory roles within a regulated environment — digital credit, lending, payments, consumer finance, fintech, or banking.

Demonstrable experience leading licensing and authorisation processes, managing ongoing supervisory engagement, and handling examinations and regulatory reporting at a senior level.

Deep knowledge of financial services regulatory frameworks and conduct risk, including consumer protection, AML/CFT, and data protection, with the ability to engage credibly with regulators, investors, and senior internal stakeholders.

A Bachelor's degree in Law, Compliance, Finance, or a related field is required. A professional qualification — bar admission, CAMS, ICA, or equivalent — is an advantage.

Why this, and why now

At a bank or established financial institution, regulatory affairs tends to mean stable frameworks and incremental change. Here, the frameworks are still being shaped — and M-KOPA's senior regulatory voice will have a hand in shaping them. That is a genuinely different kind of work, with a genuinely different kind of impact.

Why M-KOPA?

At M-KOPA, we empower our people to own their careers through diverse development programs, coaching partnerships, and on-the-job training. We support individual journeys with family-friendly policies, prioritize well-being, and embrace flexibility.

Join us in shaping the future of M-KOPA as we grow together. Explore more at m-kopa.com.

Recognized four times by the Financial Times as one Africa's fastest growing companies (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026), named on CNBC's World’s Top Fintech Companies 2025 & 2026 and by TIME100 Most influential companies in the world 2023 and 2024 , we've served over 10 million customers, unlocking $2 billion in cumulative credit for the everyday earners across Africa, in addition to over 10,000 e-bikes financed in Kenya.

Important Notice

M-KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

M-KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of Forced or Child Labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice. M-KOPA shall ensure that its Employees are of legal working age and shall comply with local laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships. 

M-KOPA does not collect/charge any money as a pre-employment or post-employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’, or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Shortlisting and interviews will take place at any stage during the recruitment process. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is selected before the advertised closing date.

If your application is successful M-KOPA undertakes pre-employment background checks as part of its recruitment process, these include; criminal records, identification verification, academic qualifications, employment dates and employer references.