Katlego Maphai, co-founder and long-serving CEO of South African fintech company Yoco, has announced he will step down from the role after more than 10 years at the helm.
Maphai revealed the decision in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, saying the move comes after a period of reflection. “It became clear that the skills and energy needed to start and build a company are not always the same as those required to scale it to the next level,” he wrote.
Founded in 2013, Yoco has grown into a household name in South Africa’s payments industry, serving hundreds of thousands of small businesses and processing billions of rand in card payments annually. The company has played a central role in bringing digital payments to small merchants that were historically excluded from formal financial systems.
Yoco will continue to be run by its founding team. Fellow co-founders Lungisa Matshoba and Bradley Wattrus will take over the reins as co-CEOs. Matshoba will take charge of innovation and product growth, while Wattrus will focus on governance and scalability. A third co-founder, Carl Wazen, will continue to lead go-to-market and commercial operations.
Maphai will remain engaged with the company as a founder, focusing on longer-term strategic projects. “Yoco is part of me. I will remain engaged … but it is time for new leadership at the helm,” he said.
The transition, he added, was designed to ensure continuity while empowering a new generation of leadership inside the company.
Success story
Yoco has been one of South Africa’s biggest fintech success stories, attracting strong investor interest over the past decade. In 2021, it raised US$83-million (about R1.2 billion at the time) in a series-C funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group, with participation from Breyer Capital, 4DX Ventures and Tencent, among others. The deal was one of the largest single funding rounds for a South African fintech at the time.
The company has used this capital to expand its product suite beyond card machines into online payments, point-of-sale solutions and financial services tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises. It has also invested heavily in building an open commerce platform aimed at integrating small businesses into the digital economy, while pursuing expansion into other African markets.
Read: South Africa’s Yoco raises R1.2-billion in major funding round
Competition in the payments space has intensified, with rivals such as iKhokha and international players also targeting South Africa’s SME market. However, Yoco’s strong brand recognition, merchant-first strategy, and early-mover advantage have helped it maintain a leading position.
The next phase under the new leadership team will be critical in determining whether Yoco can replicate its local success at scale across the continent. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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