Legal & Compliance Manager – 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 Legal & Compliance Manager – West Africa to join our Legal group; as we scale up and drive digital and financial inclusion across our markets.

The full legal and compliance brief for two of Africa's most significant markets

Nigeria and Ghana. Two regulatory bodies for banking supervision. Two corporate governance frameworks — CAMA 2020 and the Companies Act 2019. Two sets of statutory filing obligations. One role that carries accountability for all of it, plus commercial contracting, data privacy, compliance programme management, and investor reporting.

For a lawyer who wants genuine breadth — not a narrow lane in a large legal team — this is a rare brief.

M-KOPA has extended more than $2 billion in credit to over 7 million customers across seven markets, with 55% accessing formal financial products for the first time. In West Africa, the legal and compliance infrastructure that supports that mission sits with this role.

What the work covers

The role is the primary legal and compliance resource for M-KOPA's Nigeria and Ghana operations, reporting to the Head of Department. The scope spans regulatory licensing and engagement with the Bank of Ghana and Central Bank of Nigeria; corporate governance and secretarial matters for both entities; drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements including vendor contracts, service agreements, and technology licences; and management of the external counsel panel across both markets.

The role also carries designation as Data Privacy Officer for West Africa, with responsibility for compliance with applicable data privacy legislation across the region, supported by the global privacy team. On the compliance side, it includes maintaining the full suite of compliance tools — obligations register, training calendar, incident register, and risk register — coordinating training programmes, and supporting ESMS implementation and ESG investor reporting.

What this role requires

A proven track record in a legal or compliance function, with post-call-to-bar experience in a regulated or commercially active environment; banking, finance, or fintech exposure is an advantage.

Demonstrable experience in contract negotiation, regulatory engagement, and corporate governance, with working knowledge of compliance standards and risk management frameworks.

An undergraduate LLB degree; prior exposure to structured finance, capital markets, or data privacy is an added advantage.

Why this, and why now

In private practice, you serve the client's brief. In a specialist in-house role, you own one function. Here, you are the legal and compliance lead for a growing fintech across two consequential West African markets — with the range, the relationships, and the commercial exposure that comes with it.

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.