Chief Risk Officer search for African fintech
TITC runs retained CRO searches for fintech and financial services businesses across Africa. For CEOs and boards who need risk owned properly, often because a regulator is asking.
The hire that keeps going wrong
This search is often triggered by a licence condition or a regulator who wants a credible risk function in place. That urgency is exactly when boards hire wrong.
You either get the risk leader who says no to everything, and watches the business grind to a halt, or the one who waves everything through until the loan book turns and the losses arrive. Both are common. Both are dangerous.
In lending and BNPL the real test is whether they've seen a credit cycle. A model that looks brilliant in a growth market behaves very differently in a downturn. You want someone who's owned a book through stress, not just built one in the good times.
What good looks like
A risk leader who prices and enables risk rather than refusing it. Who's carried real exposure, a loan book or a risk function, through a hard cycle. Who speaks the regulator's language and passes fit and proper without drama. And who lets the business grow without quietly stacking up tail risk you can't see.
How we run it
We assess for judgement under stress, not just frameworks. For regulated mandates we shortlist with fit and proper credibility built in, so the regulator accepts your appointment.
Common questions
What's the difference between a Chief Risk Officer and a Chief Compliance Officer?
A CRO owns the risks the business takes, credit, fraud, market and operational. A Chief Compliance Officer owns adherence to regulation and conduct rules. Fintechs often try to merge them too early and end up doing neither well.
When does a fintech need a dedicated CRO?
When the balance sheet carries real risk, typically a lending or BNPL book, or when a regulator requires an independent risk function as a licence condition.
Can TITC find a risk leader regulators will accept?
Yes. Fit and proper credibility with the FSCA, SARB and central banks across the continent is part of how we screen risk candidates for regulated mandates.
Discuss a mandate
Regulator asking for a credible risk head? Let's scope it before the deadline forces a rushed hire.