M-Kopa appoints ex-Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri as new board chair

Asset financing start-up M-Kopa has announced the Indian-born Singaporean tech executive Rejeev Suri as its new board chair.

The fintech said Suri assumes the role effective December 1.

Suri has served in leadership roles across the tech and telecom sectors globally – he was CEO of Nokia from 2014 to 2020 and was appointed CEO of the British satellite telecoms company Inmarsat in 2021.

He is the chair of Digicel Group and the board director at Singtel, a Singaporean telco and the American internet service provider Viasat.

“His deep knowledge and expertise will be fundamental in guiding our strategy as we enter this next phase of growth and continue to scale our reach and impact across emerging markets,” M-Kopa said on Monday.

Elizabeth Littlefield has chaired the M-Kopa board over the past six years and the start-up said she now takes up the role of independent director and chair of M-Kopa’s ESG and Impact committee.

The start-up, founded by Nick Hughes, Chad Larson and Jesse Moore in 2010, has been providing underbanked customers in Africa with products such as solar lighting systems, televisions, fridges, smartphones and digital financial services.

M-Kopa’s product uses an Internet-of-Things (IoT) approach to combine digital micropayments, giving its customers – who mostly have limited pre-existing financial identities and conventional collateral – access to “productive assets” instantly.

Its credit model allows individuals to pay a small deposit and get instant access to everyday products such as electronics, before upgrading to digital financial services such as loans and health insurance.

Customers pay off through micro-instalments over time.

The UK-based company claims over 5 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, and says to date, it has deployed over $1.5 billion in credit.

Suri joins M-Kopa’s board just months after the venture secured a $51 million debt financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation in May.

In May last year, the start-up raised $250 million in debt and equity.