New Business & Commercial Manager – West Africa
Location: Abidjan, Ivory Coast (regional remit covering Anglophone and Francophone West Africa)
About Kuunda
Kuunda is a B2B embedded digital financial company that provides liquidity to the informal sector through digital infrastructure and advanced decisioning models. We specialize in real-time, transaction-based lending solutions that enable agent networks, small businesses, and consumers to access financing that drives productivity, growth, and resilience.
We partner with telcos, banks, fintechs, and platforms to embed financial services directly into digital ecosystems at scale.
Role Purpose
To drive Kuunda’s market entry and commercial expansion across West Africa by identifying high-potential opportunities, engaging strategic partners, and structuring commercially viable partnerships from early-stage discussions through to execution readiness, across priority markets including Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, and the wider region.
This role sits at the intersection of market intelligence, product translation, strategic business development, regulatory expertise, and commercial structuring & contracting, with end-to-end ownership of opportunity progression across multiple jurisdictions.
Key Responsibilities
1. Market Scoping & Strategic Insight
- Develop a deep understanding of West Africa’s digital financial services ecosystem, with a special focus on digital lending products, across both Francophone (UEMOA/WAEMU) and Anglophone markets
- Identify market gaps, partner pain points and white spaces across priority countries
- Monitor regulatory, competitive, and ecosystem developments across the region
- Translate insights into clear, actionable distribution partner recommendations by market
- Maintain a strong understanding of the regulatory landscape, Independent Central Banks (such as Bank of Ghana), CEMAC and BCEAO/WAEMU frameworks and their impact on product design, commercial structuring, and market entry
2. Opportunity Origination & Early-Stage Engagement
- Build and manage a high-quality new business pipeline across West African markets
- Lead outreach and initiate conversations with distribution partners (Telcos/MMOs, POS players, ride-hailing apps, e-commerce platforms, aggregators)
- Lead outreach with balance sheet partners (Commercial banks, MFIs, NBFIs etc.)
- Qualify opportunities based on strategic fit, commercial viability, and regulatory feasibility in each target market
- Drive early-stage processes including NDAs, data discussions, and internal feasibility alignment
3. Product Alignment & Business Case Development
- Translate Kuunda’s product suite into localized, high-impact use cases for each West African market
- Co-develop business cases and commercial models (pricing, risk-sharing, revenue-sharing) tailored to local market conditions
- Lead partner alignment and secure banking and distribution partner buy-ins
- Ensure alignment across product, credit, data, and tech teams
4. Commercial Structuring & Contracting
Lead commercial negotiations and structure partnership frameworks
Own end-to-end contracting processes, including:
- NDAs
- Tripartite agreements (telco–bank–Kuunda)
- Bilateral/Software license agreements and supporting documentation
- Coordinate cross-functional inputs to ensure agreements are operationally and technically sound
- Work closely with lending partners to support regulatory submissions to BCEAO, and other relevant national regulators
- Ensure partnership structures, operating models, and documentation are aligned with regulatory requirements, including licensing, compliance frameworks, and entity structuring where applicable, across multiple jurisdictions
- Identify and resolve commercial, contractual, and regulatory bottlenecks specific to each market
5. Partner & Bank Stakeholder Management
- Act as the primary point of contact across all partner engagements in the region
- Build strong, trust-based relationships with banks, telcos, and platform partners across multiple West African markets
- Align stakeholders on commercial structures, risk appetite, and product positioning
- Lead structured working sessions to progress opportunities toward execution
Experience & Skills
- 6–10+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, fintech, or financial services
- Fluent in English & French
- Proven experience structuring and negotiating complex partnerships
- Strong business case development and commercial modelling capability
- Deep, on-the-ground experience in West African markets, with strong networks in Francophone & Anglophone West Africa
- Strong regulatory understanding of West Africa’s financial services ecosystem, including:
- BCEAO/WAEMU, CEMAC, BoG frameworks and how their regulated entities operate
- Implications of regulation on digital lending products (consumer, agent, merchant finance)
- Licensing structures and partnership models (bank-led vs NBFI/MFI-led)
- Regulatory approval processes and submission requirements across multiple jurisdictions
- Operational and compliance requirements (ISO certifications, data governance, information security)
- Entity set-up considerations and market entry structuring across Anglophone and Francophone market.
Key Outcomes
- Build and maintain a strong, high-quality opportunity pipeline across priority West African markets
- Progress opportunities from origination to execution-ready stage
- Deliver and execute scalable partnership models
- Establish Kuunda as a leading embedded finance partner in West Africa
What You’ll Get From Us
- Health claim benefits with access to our Wellness App
- Generous leave policy, including 2 days birthday leave
- Company laptop and learning contribution for continuous development
- Flexible working environment within a collaborative, execution-driven culture
- Competitive salary plus performance-based bonus
- Exposure to high-impact fintech expansion across Africa
- Strong career growth and ownership opportunities
- Flexible, collaborative, and innovation-driven culture
***This role is located in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, covering Anglophone and Francophone West Africa. Eligibility to work in Ivory Coast is required.
