Head of Financial Services & Regulatory Affairs West Africa at M-KOPA

About the job

• We are looking for a Head of Financial Services & Regulatory Affairs, 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 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.
• 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.

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.