The move, which began quietly in March 2025, shows a change in strategy for Africa’s highest-valued startup.

The layoffs have hit the company’s compliance, legal, human resources, and sales units, roles Flutterwave now appears to be relocating to its home market, Nigeria. The rationale points to the fact that Nigeria is cheaper to operate in and is more stable from a regulatory standpoint.

Less than a year ago, Flutterwave let go of 3% of its global workforce after shutting down its Barter virtual card service. This new wave of layoffs is more aggressive, pointing to investor pressure to deliver profitability ahead of a long-anticipated public listing.

In Kenya, sources familiar with the matter confirmed that about 10 of the company’s 20 employees were dismissed, with a few more resigning in the weeks that followed. 

A similar story played out in South Africa, where over half of the staff, mostly salespeople, were affected. Fewer than eight employees remain in the Nairobi office, mostly handling regulatory compliance.

“They’re cutting roles in countries they see as expensive to run,” one source close to the company’s leadership told TechCabal. “Flutterwave is also hiring for the same roles in the Nigerian market.”

The company acknowledged the layoffs in a formal statement, calling them part of a performance and strategy-led review.

“These actions are a normal but necessary part of ensuring we operate at the highest level across every part of the business,” Flutterwave said. “We recognise and reward impact, and we make changes when expectations are not met.”

This restructuring phase has seen not just exits but promotions and bonuses for staff who exceeded expectations. But we see that the company is narrowing its focus. Flutterwave is doubling down on enterprise payments and its cross-border remittance app, Send, while strengthening partnerships and infrastructure in Nigeria.

However, there’s a regulatory elephant in the room. Despite operating in Kenya for years, Flutterwave still doesn’t have a full Payment Service Provider (PSP) licence. 

The Central Bank of Kenya only granted name approval in 2023, and the company is still awaiting formal clearance. In South Africa, the situation is similar; a larger market with no license in hand.

Still, Flutterwave insists it’s pushing ahead. “We are actively engaging with regulators,” the company said. “Our Kenyan application is progressing as planned.”

The layoffs come in the middle of Flutterwave’s operational integrity investigations. In April 2024, the company reportedly suffered a ₦11 billion security breach, although it claimed that customer funds were untouched. 

This, along with a history of frozen accounts and compliance queries in Nigeria and Kenya, has increased the need for a more disciplined structure.

Flutterwave last raised funds in early 2022, a $250 million Series D round that valued it at over $3 billion. Since then, profitability has become the north star. CEO Olugbenga Agboola confirmed as much earlier this year in an interview with Bloomberg, saying the company will only go public “once it becomes profitable.”

Some of the company’s most visible executives in East Africa are also gone. Leon Kiptum, the former regional manager for East Africa, and Saruni Maina, associate VP for stablecoins, both exited after less than two years with the firm.

The timing of these layoffs is telling, as regulators are tightening their hold and investors are demanding returns. Flutterwave is taking no chances; shedding weight, shifting talent to cheaper locations, and doubling down on its most bankable markets. 

Focusing on a strategic transition to bolster its core revenue drivers — enterprise payments and remittances, the layoffs were communicated to employees during a company-wide town hall meeting on Monday.

In a statement, CEO and Founder Gbenga Agboola explained the rationale behind the decision: “At Flutterwave, we’ve continued to build solutions that enable us to be the bridge between Africa’s payments landscape and the rest of the world, helping multinationals across the world drive growth in Africa and African businesses take flight across the world. By the end of 2023, we made a data-backed decision to recommit resources to our core business; enterprise payments. We also committed to doing more with our growing remittance segment; Send App.”

The company confirmed that the layoffs were necessary to align its resources with its strategic priorities. “After a thorough analysis of our strategic priorities, including a renewed focus on enterprise customers and remittances, we came to the conclusion that some roles within the organization are redundant.”

Employees impacted by the layoffs are associated with products that the company is no longer pursuing. Flutterwave has committed to providing substantial support to the affected employees during this transition. 

“We will pay an average of 3 months gross salary, depending on the country where the employee is based. We will also be monetising their unutilised accrued leave days,” the company stated.

Additionally, Flutterwave is offering several benefits to ease the transition for departing employees. These include continued access to professional training platforms for 12 months, free outplacement services for 3 months, an additional 6-month vesting period for stock options, and 3 months of free healthcare and mental health support.

Agboola stated his gratitude towards the departing employees, acknowledging their contributions to the company. “Thank you for joining us on this journey. I need you to know that we’ve got your back and will give you a smooth transition.”

The layoffs follow a reshuffling of Flutterwave’s C-suite in 2024 and the closure of its consumer-facing product, Barter, in March. 

These changes are part of Flutterwave’s broader strategy to simplify operations and improve operational efficiency as it prepares for a potential public listing. “Since our founding eight years ago, we have not had to implement a workforce reduction plan, but it became a necessary step in this instance in order to align our current resources with our go-forward strategy and improve our operational efficiency,” the company said.

In an interview with Semafor in April 2024, Agboola highlighted Flutterwave’s long-term goals: “Right now our goal is to be IPO-ready, ensuring we have the right corporate governance in place, making sure we are operating well. We want to be a long-term company in Africa, for Africa – and so the goal is building the right infrastructure to be here for the next ten-plus years.”

Despite the layoffs, Flutterwave is actively hiring for key senior roles in risk, compliance, engineering, data, and finance to bolster its renewed focus on enterprise payments and remittances. 

The company is also working on operationalizing additional licenses for its remittance service, SendApp, to expand its reach to more countries for both senders and receivers.

Agboola concluded with a message to the remaining employees: “Some of your friends, colleagues and team members are leaving and we understand how difficult it is to process this news. While we will continue to adapt to the data-driven needs of our business, we understand that you make things happen and you are Flutterwave.” 

He also announced a comprehensive compensation review, with upward adjustments to base pay and a new performance-based bonus structure.