Tech | Business | Economy

Tag: Bento Africa

  • Bento Africa Temporarily Shuts Down Following CEO Exit, Payroll Issues

    Bento Africa Temporarily Shuts Down Following CEO Exit, Payroll Issues

    Bento Africa, a Nigerian HR technology startup, has temporarily suspended operations following a series of financial and operational challenges. 

    The shutdown comes after the resignation of CEO and founder Ebun Okubanjo, as well as the dismissal of the company’s engineering team over unpaid salaries.

    In an email to customers, Bento’s board announced the decision, advising clients not to fund their payroll accounts during this period. “We will proceed to temporarily shut down operations to bring stability back to the company,” the board stated. “We are confident of the restoration of normalcy soon.”

    The issue began when Bento’s engineers, who had not received their January salaries, stopped working in protest. Okubanjo, who resigned on 30 January, informed employees the next day that their salaries would be “strategically delayed” to prioritise client payroll processing.

    In response, employees collectively decided to stop operations until they were paid. Instead of resolving the issue, the company dismissed the entire 10-person tech team, effectively paralysing its payroll processing system.

    Several clients took to social media to complain about delays in salary disbursement, with some confirming that their employees had not been paid in the first week of February. 

    Bento Africa, which previously relied on automated salary disbursement, has been manually processing payments since early 2024 due to payment processor issues and account funding discrepancies.

    Nonetheless, the company later assured customers that outstanding salaries had been paid, and some employees had been reinstated to restore core functionality. 

    However, Bento acknowledged that certain payroll transactions were unresolved. It pledged to refund affected clients by the close of business on Tuesday.

    Beyond has been accused of failing to remit tax and pension payments and allegedly forging tax receipts for clients in Lagos State. These accusations, which surfaced shortly before Okubanjo’s resignation, have distorted trust in the company’s financial management and compliance with regulatory requirements.

    Although Okubanjo stepped down, he continued communicating with employees, attempting to justify the delayed salaries. “It’s January, and everyone is going through it financially,” an affected ex-employee stated in a message. “Even amidst all the chaos, we’re still here working without knowing where the company is headed. The team has collectively agreed to halt all operations until we get paid.”

    Employees rejected an offer from Okubanjo to split withheld salaries among those willing to continue working. Following their refusal, he deactivated their work emails and treated their protest as resignations.

    Some of Bento’s former staff members are worried about the impact of the controversy on their careers. “I even took the company off my LinkedIn for a while,” one ex-employee admitted to TechCabal.

    Loading

  • $108,000 in Unremitted Funds: Bento Africa CEO Resigns Over Allegations

    $108,000 in Unremitted Funds: Bento Africa CEO Resigns Over Allegations

    Ebun Okubanjo, CEO of payroll and employee benefits platform Bento Africa, has resigned following allegations of financial management, specifically the failure to remit taxes and pension contributions on behalf of its clients. 

    Per TechCabal, his resignation, which was communicated via an email to the company’s board, also involves him relinquishing both his equity and debt holdings in Bento.

    Fuelmetrics, a digital inventory management firm, and AltSchool, an edtech company, have both accused Bento of withholding taxes and pension contributions, amounting to approximately ₦50 million ($108,000) for 2023 and 2024. 

    The allegations surfaced on Friday and have led to doubts about the company’s ability to effectively manage the payroll and human resource needs of its clients.

    The timing of Okubanjo’s resignation also adds complexity to the matter. Bento’s leadership has been rough in recent years, with Okubanjo stepping down in March 2022 after facing issues of verbal abuse and facilitating a toxic work environment. 

    Although he returned as CEO in September 2022, his decision to leave now could be seen as a reflection of the company’s current challenges. It was reported that Okubanjo had hinted at stepping down earlier, and in a January 2025 email to investors, he suggested a search for his successor.

    In his resignation email, Okubanjo alluded to the difficulty of scaling payroll systems in Africa, pointing to the continent’s differing taxation structures.

    He explained, “If Africa adopts the Western style of taxation and remittances—these companies are gold mines. I use Gusto in the U.S. not because I want to, but because I have to. Until that happens—scale will be a challenge.”

    Nonetheless, Bento continued to attract investors, including Berrywood Capital, Flexcap Ventures, and angel investors. The company, which was founded in 2019, has worked with clients like Moniepoint, Lori Systems, Paystack, and Kobo360. 

    However, the allegations of mismanagement and the company’s opaque communication with investors have led to growing doubts. Several investors are discouraged by Bento’s lack of transparency, with some revealing that they were unaware of Okubanjo’s resignation until they were contacted by TechCabal.

    Bento now has to face the aftermath of Okubanjo’s resignation, dealing with a damaged reputation, unanswered financial obligations, and questions about its future. 

    Investors and clients are looking for clarity on how the company plans to address these issues and whether it can continue its growth, especially given the absence of a clear successor to the exiting Bento Africa CEO, Okubanjo. 

    Loading

  • Bento Africa Under LIRS, EFCC Investigation Over Tax Evasion, Pension Mismanagement as Moniepoint, Paystack, and Kobo360 Depart

    Bento Africa Under LIRS, EFCC Investigation Over Tax Evasion, Pension Mismanagement as Moniepoint, Paystack, and Kobo360 Depart

    Bento Africa, a Nigerian HR-tech startup, is reportedly under investigation after accusations of failing to remit taxes and pension payments for its clients. 

    The company, founded in 2019, is now being investigated by the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). 

    Per TechCabal, the investigations have led to the departure of several clients in 2024, including Moniepoint, Paystack, and Kobo360.

    The allegations against Bento include forging tax receipts, delaying pension contributions, and other financial discrepancies. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that former clients are particularly concerned about Bento’s management of their tax and pension remittances. 

    Fuelmetrics, a digital inventory management company, has accused Bento of owing ₦50 million ($108,000) in unpaid taxes and pension contributions between 2023 and 2024. “LIRS made us understand that there is an ongoing investigation on Bento and that we are not the only company affected in this scam, dating from 2023 till date,” Fuelmetrics said in an internal memo.

    In response to the allegations, Bento’s CEO, Ebun Okubanjo, admitted that the company had received complaints regarding unpaid taxes. He assured that the company is addressing the issue and plans to settle outstanding obligations. 

    However, Okubanjo downplayed the extent of the problem, claiming it affected “a very small percentage of Bento users, who happen to be very vocal in the tech ecosystem.” 

    Even with this, sources have shown doubts about the company’s ability to manage client funds effectively, pointing to delays in remitting payments, some lasting up to ten months.

    An unnamed former employee of Bento Africa alleged that Okubanjo deliberately delayed pension and tax payments despite the availability of client funds. According to the ex-employee, internal documents show that the company’s processes led to payments being delayed for long periods. 

    Okubanjo, however, attributed these delays to the manual nature of Bento’s payment system and insisted that payments are made promptly once discrepancies are identified.

    Despite these assurances, Bento’s internal processes have been questioned by industry experts. An HR-SaaS expert remarked, “It is uncommon to hear of payment glitches that last a calendar year,” adding that such delays suggest deeper systemic issues. Bento’s past controversies also increase doubts. 

    In 2023, Okubanjo was criticised for allegedly creating a toxic work environment, leading him to step aside from people-related decisions temporarily.

    Bento Africa has tried to address some of these challenges by lobbying for a direct API integration with Nigeria’s tax and pension systems, which they claim would simplify payment reconciliation. However, Okubanjo admitted that these efforts had not yet succeeded, leaving many clients frustrated.

    The company’s difficulties have been compounded by an inability to provide clients with the detailed records required for reconciliation. For example, when Kobo360 spoke about missing pension payment receipts, Bento reportedly obstructed an EFCC investigation by refusing to provide the necessary records. 

    The investigation revealed a shortfall of over ₦20 million in pension funds during the five years the company worked with Bento.

    Bento’s CEO, however, has remained defiant. He claimed that only a few clients request regular short-term records for reconciliation and that such requests are difficult and expensive to fulfil due to the manual processes involved. 

    Okubanjo also claimed that Bento’s transition towards serving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was a deliberate move to reduce reliance on venture-backed startups, which are more vulnerable to funding downturns.

    Nonetheless, with the ongoing investigations and the loss of key clients, Bento claims that it remains profitable, processing between ₦4-5 billion ($2.6 million) in salaries monthly. However, insiders remain wary of the company’s future, given the issues about its ability to effectively manage tax and pension obligations.

    Loading

Translate »