Nigeria’s Digital-Only Bank, Kuda, Lays Off 23 Staff as Cost Skyrocket
- Kuda Bank, Nigeria's first digital-only bank has laid off about 23 staff in its latest drive to reduce cost
- The bank said the layoffs were less than 5 per cent of its 450 workforce and that it is repositioning for expansion
- The company recently raised about $500 million and said it will use the fund to pursue a pan-African expansion
Nigeria’s first digital-only bank, Kuda bank, has become one of the lasted startup and tech firms to lay off staff.
TechCrunch reported that the news was confirmed in an email by the company after a source tipped it off about the sack.
Source: Getty Images
A wave of layoffs sweeps across African fintech ecosytem
The company said it laid off less than 5 per cent of its 450 workforce, which is about 23 people.
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In comparison to other sacks by other tech companies, Kuda’s is very small as there has been a wave of layoffs among startups in Africa recently despite raising vast sums in funding by venture capital firms in the last two years.
Kuda held a town hall meeting in August, cut down seemingly redundant roles, and sacked underperforming staff to save costs.
The bank raised about $55 million in August and said it plans to use the money to kickstart new services in Nigeria and also prepare its launch into more countries in Africa like Ghana and Uganda.
The bank now valued at $500 million.
The bank has raised more than $500 million in total from investors like Valar Ventures and Target Global and is also planning an expansion outside Africa to Pakistan. In addition, it recruited Pavel Khristolubov, a former Tinkoff executive, as its head global chief operating officer and Elena Lavezzi, a former Revolut executive, to supervise its expansion efforts.
The company said it is currently making some strategic changes to serve its clients better and continue to make financial services more accessible and rewarding.
Kuda Bank challenges mainstream banking system in Nigeria and winning so Far
Legit.ng reported that for the most part, Kuda Bank is branchless. Meaning it has no physical structures, nowhere to physically go and lay complaints if anything goes amiss.
But it has not deterred Nigerians, especially the youths from operating an account with it.
As of the last count, the bank has amassed over 1.4 million customers since it came on stream in 2017, five years ago.
Source: Legit.ng
