Chief Commercial Officer search for African fintech
TITC runs retained CCO searches for fintech and financial services businesses across Africa. For CEOs whose revenue has outgrown founder-led selling.
The hire that keeps going wrong
Revenue has been founder-led and it's plateauing. You need a commercial engine that runs without you in every deal. The wrong hire sets you back a year.
The classic miss is the enterprise-SaaS VP Sales who arrives with a playbook built for a different market. It doesn't survive contact with an African bank's procurement process or an MNO partnership. Logos in the US or Europe don't translate into distribution here.
In most African fintech, growth is partnership-led. Banks, mobile networks, aggregators, regulators in the room. The relationships matter more than the pitch. A CCO without live relationships in your target markets is starting from zero, on your time and budget.
What good looks like
Someone with real distribution relationships in the markets you're selling into. Who can build a repeatable commercial motion, not just close one marquee deal. Who's fluent in partnerships, pricing and channel, not only direct sales. And who's done it in African markets, where the deal structure and the sales cycle look nothing like the textbook.
How we run it
We map commercial leaders by the markets and partnerships they can actually open, not by title. The shortlist is built around your distribution strategy, direct, partner-led or both.
Common questions
When should a fintech hire a Chief Commercial Officer?
When revenue depends on the founder and the business needs a repeatable commercial engine to scale, or when growth shifts from direct sales to partnerships and channel.
Why do commercial leaders from outside Africa often struggle here?
African fintech growth is partnership-led and relationship-heavy. Playbooks built for self-serve SaaS or Western enterprise sales rarely transfer to selling into banks, MNOs and regulated partners on the continent.
Does TITC look for direct sales or partnership experience?
Both, matched to your model. We screen for the specific distribution motion you're building and the live relationships a candidate brings into your target markets.
Discuss a mandate
Revenue stuck on founder relationships? Tell us where you need to grow.