We help build the industry we recruit in
The people who run your search also help run the institutions shaping South African fintech. We co-founded the country’s fintech association, we sit on its payments and inclusion bodies, and we’ve spent over a decade placing the leaders who now run these businesses. That’s why our read on the market, and the people in it, is one you won’t get from a search firm watching from outside.
A specialist, not a generalist
TITC is a retained executive search firm for African fintech, and a maker of warm introductions for the companies selling into it. We’ve worked in this one market since 2015, across seventeen countries, with direct relationships with regulators in twelve of them.
We don’t cover the sector from a distance. We’re part of it.
Embedded where the industry is actually built
Most search firms tell you they know the market. We help govern it. Members of this team co-founded and run the Fintech Association of South Africa, hold office at the Payments Association of South Africa, and lead the Sub-Saharan chapter of African Women in FinTech and Payments.
That isn’t a list of memberships. It means when policy is written, when payments standards are set, and when the next generation of fintech leaders is being backed, we’re in the room. Our clients hire that proximity as much as they hire the search.
The people behind the work
Darren Franks
Darren founded TITC in 2015 and has spent more than twenty years placing leaders in fintech and technology across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He is co-founder and CEO of FINASA, the Fintech Association of South Africa, where he works with regulators and operators on the policy environment the industry runs on. He sits on the board of African Women in FinTech and Payments, served as Findexable’s Ambassador to Africa, and hosts the Talking Success podcast.
LinkedIn →
Danielle Lawrence
Danielle runs TITC’s operations and client delivery, and carries as much institutional weight in South African fintech as anyone on the team. She is COO of FINASA, President for Sub-Saharan Africa at African Women in FinTech and Payments, and Deputy Chair of the Industry Learning Advisory Committee at the Payments Association of South Africa, with more than a decade across financial services and a focus on financial inclusion.
LinkedIn →
Symone Davids
Symone leads sourcing and search execution at TITC, mapping and reaching the senior talent behind the firm’s mandates across African markets. She is a director of African Women in FinTech and Payments, part of the firm’s long-standing work to put more women into fintech leadership.
LinkedIn →
Meghan Lee Mare
Meghan has been with TITC since 2018, managing candidate and client delivery from Cape Town and holding the relationships that run from a first conversation through to a placed hire and beyond. She holds key supporting positions with African Women in FinTech and Payments, contributing to the firm’s work to put more women into fintech leadership.
LinkedIn →Connected to the bodies that shape African fintech
We don’t work from the sidelines. Members of this team hold office in several of the institutions below, and the firm partners with the rest. That keeps our view of the market current and our relationships real.
FINASA
The Fintech Association of South Africa. Co-founded and led from within this team.
We hold office
Payments Association of South Africa
South Africa’s payments industry body, where we sit on the Industry Learning Advisory Committee.
We hold officeAfrican Women in FinTech & Payments
The pan-African community for women in the sector. We lead its Sub-Saharan chapter and back its mission directly.
We hold office
African FinTech Network
The continental network connecting associations and operators across Africa.
EWPN
The European Women in Payments Network, AWFP’s sister organisation.
Findexable
The global fintech benchmarking platform. Darren served as its Ambassador to Africa.
In the room where direction is set
We speak, moderate and sit on panels at the festivals, payments forums and closed-door sessions where the market’s direction gets decided. Leadership, payments, governance, market structure and regulation.
Common questions
Who leads TITC?
TITC was founded and is led by Darren Franks, co-founder and CEO of the Fintech Association of South Africa. The leadership team includes Danielle Lawrence, who is also COO of FINASA and holds senior roles at AWFP and the Payments Association of South Africa.
Is TITC connected to FINASA?
Yes. Members of the TITC team co-founded and help run FINASA, the Fintech Association of South Africa. The two are separate organisations, but the relationships and market proximity overlap.
How long has TITC operated?
Since 2015, focused on one sector, fintech and financial services across Africa.
What makes TITC different from a general recruiter?
We work in one sector, in one region, and members of our team help run the institutions that govern it. The people we place are usually people we already know.
Work with the team inside the market
Whether it’s a leadership hire, an introduction or a read on the market, you’ll be working with people who help build this industry, not watch it. Tell us what you’re deciding.