Chris Meyer, group CEO of Lesaka Technologies, will step down in February, just two-and-a-half years after being appointed to the role.

At the same time, the fintech group, which was previously known as Net1 UEPS Technologies, said it will appoint fintech entrepreneur Ali Mazanderani as chairman and Kuben Pillay, who has been serving as chairman, as lead independent director.

“During his nearly three years as group CEO, Chris has led the successful turnaround and building of the Lesaka fintech platform. Chris will remain a director of Lesaka,” it said in a statement to shareholders on Tuesday.

Prior to joining Lesaka in July 2021, Meyer had worked at Investec for 20 years, most recently as head of the Corporate and Investment Bank based in London.

Explaining his departure, Meyer said: “I have dedicated all my energy over the past nearly three years to the turnaround and rebuilding of the Lesaka platform, spending most of that time apart from my family in the UK. The vibrant and energised Lesaka of today looks very different to the business we took on almost three years ago, and I am exceptionally proud of what this extraordinary team has achieved.”

He said it’s the right time for him to “return to my family and hand over to a new leader who will take this extraordinary group of people into an exciting future. Ali is an exceptional leader and fintech entrepreneur and is the perfect candidate to lead Lesaka in its next exciting growth phase.”

Fintech

Mazanderani, who has been a director of Lesaka since 2020, will assume the role of executive chairman on 1 February.

“It was Ali’s vision to build the leading fintech platform in Southern Africa that set Lesaka on its journey. He presented this strategy to the market at Lesaka’s fourth quarter 2020 earnings call and has played a key role in Lesaka’s evolution, serving as a board director and a member of the capital allocation committee,” Meyer said.

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Mazanderani co-founded Teya, a European fintech, and has served as a director of global fintech companies, including StoneCo in Brazil and Network International in the United Arab Emirates. – © 2023 NewsCentral Media