Bolaji Akinboro, former CEO and Co-Founder of Cellulant Corporation, an Africa-based fintech organization has been declared innocent of allegations of financial misconducts that led to his resignation in 2020. Cellulant was founded by Akinboro in 2004, alongside Ken Njoroge from Kenya. The company in 2018 received the largest investment in the history of FinTech companies in Africa. In August 2020, Akinboro was accused of misconducts that led to the exit of about 48 members of staff of the organization, as well as Mastercard Foundation, who had made a sizable grant investment, in the business. Dare Nana, CEO of Gold Forth Ltd., an integrated agricultural production, supply processing and exporting company, who has followed the ‘integrity tussle’ notes that Cellulant paid a particularly heavy price on account of overzealous steps taken by the company. In his words, “the company’s handling of the matter was particularly strange and resulted in serious credibility concerns and nobody can blame investors for backing out”. Cellulant on Tuesday after two years of what was dubbed “internal compliance reviews” announced that it has now come to a mediated settlement that puts an end to all litigation and claims between it and Akinboro. Concerns had initially been raised about irregularities and funds receipts on the Agrikore platform – a subsidiary business led by Akinboro which was eventually shut down. The Agrikore platform upon its establishment became a distinct product line of Cellulant’s broader diversified payments business. Known as Agrikore Marketplace, it supported millions of farmers across Nigeria and guaranteed the supply of raw agro-commodities. Following a compliance review on the Agrikore Platform, Cellulant revealed that by his action of promptly stepping aside from his co-CEO role, Bolaji allowed the company’s forensic review and internal investigation to proceed unimpeded. “We are pleased to announce that neither of these has resulted in any findings of financial misconduct or personal impropriety on the part of Bolaji. We welcome this development as it cleared the way for an amicable end to the disputes between the parties” Fielding questions from AgroNigeria, Akinboro who had moved on to set up Vorian Corelli Ltd., a company offering similar services as does Cellulant, was very terse. His words: “Cellulant has done the right thing by issuing a statement that clears my name”. He added that his spokesperson will issue a comprehensive statement, in the near future. BOLAJI AKINBORO SHARE0
