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

M-KOPA is a fast-growing FinTech company offering millions of underbanked customers across Africa access to life-enhancing products and services. From our roots as the pioneer in pay-as-you-go “PayGo’” solar energy for off grid homes, we have grown into one of the most advanced connected asset financing platforms in the world, empowering a broad range of customers to achieve progress in their lives.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head of Financial Services & Regulatory Affairs West Africa

Location: Nigeria
Reporting to: Director of Compliance

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.

Job Purpose

• To provide group-wide leadership on financial services regulatory strategy and external affairs in West Africa, ensuring M-KOPA obtains and maintains required licences and meets supervisory expectations, while overseeing West Africa regulatory engagement and compliance execution.

Key Job Functions

• Own and drive M-KOPA’s group-wide financial services regulatory strategy, providing senior leadership on regulatory risk, supervisory expectations, regulatory engagement, and governance requirements across all markets.
• Lead regulatory approvals and ongoing supervisory engagement for key licences and regulated activities, including the Digital Credit Service Provider (DCSP) licence in Ghana, financial services licenses in Nigeria, and other relevant licensing/authorisation processes (e.g., MFI licensing, payments, lending, consumer finance).
• Monitor changes in financial services regulation and supervisory priorities, assess impact on M-KOPA’s business model, and translate requirements into actionable guidance, controls, and governance enhancements to manage enforcement and conduct risk.
• Partner with Product, Credit, Operations, Risk, and Legal to embed “regulatory-by-design” into new product development and market expansion, including advising on licensing scope, disclosures, customer outcomes, and regulator expectations.
• Set the regulatory compliance tone for financial services, driving training and awareness programmes and strengthening first-line ownership of regulatory obligations across markets.
• Provide senior support on regulatory reporting, assurance, and due diligence requirements, including engagement with investors, auditors, and development finance partners on financial services regulatory matters.
• Lead external affairs for financial services regulation, representing M-KOPA in industry bodies, regulatory consultations, and policy discussions; and drive senior-level regulatory engagement strategy for West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana).
• Develop, maintain, and oversee the implementation of financial services compliance policies, procedures, and regulatory playbooks, including an appropriate review cycle aligned to supervisory frameworks.
• Partner with Risk, Internal Audit, Legal, Data Protection, and Operations to design and test regulatory controls, track remediation, and provide confidence in the effectiveness of the compliance framework for regulated activities.
• Oversee responses to regulatory inquiries, examinations, and information requests; ensure timely, accurate high-stakes submissions and position papers; and provide escalation and direction to in-country compliance leads on regulatory filings and inspections.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with regulators and key external stakeholders, ensuring appropriate regulator accessibility, effective communication, and proactive management of supervisory expectations.
• Work flexibly and collaboratively across all teams in the organisation to ensure the greatest impact and effectiveness of the Compliance Team’s day-to-day work
• Undertake all other reasonable and related tasks associated with this role.

Experience / Skills & Competencies / Licences & Certifications / Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in Law, Compliance, Finance, Business, or a related field; a relevant professional qualification (e.g., bar admission, CAMS/ICA, or similar) is an advantage.
• 8+ years’ experience 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).
• Demonstrated experience leading licensing/authorisation processes and managing ongoing supervisory engagement, examinations, and regulatory reporting.
• Strong knowledge of financial services regulatory frameworks and conduct risk, including consumer protection, AML/CFT, and (where applicable) data protection.
• Proven ability to engage credibly with regulators, investors, auditors, and senior internal stakeholders, translating requirements into pragmatic, implementable controls.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills; strong policy drafting, regulatory writing, and attention to detail.
• Strong planning and execution skills, with the ability to operate strategically while driving delivery through country teams.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online