Seasoned global fintech leader joins Cellulant to strengthen financial leadership as the company scales its payments platform
NAIROBI, Kenya, 19 march 2026 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/ – Cellulant,
Africa’s leading payments technology company, has appointed Darren
Makarem as Chief Financial Officer, strengthening its executive team as
it accelerates its expansion as the preferred payments partner for
global and regional enterprises.
The appointment comes as Cellulant builds on strong operational
momentum, scaling its platform with greater financial discipline while
delivering differentiated, product-led value to customers.
A seasoned finance and operations leader with over 20 years of
experience in the digital and fintech sectors, Darren will help
strengthen the company’s financial strategy and operational
foundations.
Having achieved profitability in 2024, Cellulant is leveraging its
infrastructure, which processes over 4.5 million transactions daily, to
serve Africa’s digital payments economy, projected to reach $1.5
Trillion by 2030.*
A CFO Who Understands the Customer
Darren brings a strong understanding of payments from the customer side.
As former Global CFO at Agoda, he oversaw the company’s global
payments network, managing annual transaction volumes of approximately
$12 billion. In that role, he navigated multi-currency settlement,
conversion rate optimisation, the need for reliable, high-uptime payment
infrastructure and payment experiences that enable customer growth.
“Darren doesn’t just understand the numbers; he understands the
customer,” said Peter O’Toole, CEO of Cellulant. “His experience as a
high-volume user of payment services at Agoda gives him a unique
perspective on what businesses need to grow. He will leverage these
insights to build a finance centre of excellence, ensuring our financial
operations are as innovative, agile, and customer-centric as our
products.”
Global Rigour Meets Emerging Market Expertise
Darren brings a rare blend of institutional rigour and experience
scaling a global fintech platform. An ACA-qualified professional, he
began his career with EY in England and later earned an MBA from the
Kellogg School of Management.
His experience spans complex regulatory and commercial landscapes,
notably serving as APAC & LATAM CFO at Binance and, most recently, as
CEO of OnRamp. This background in digital assets and regulated business
models is particularly vital as Cellulant continues to explore new
payment and settlement models.
Building for Sustainable Growth
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For Darren, the opportunity at Cellulant is rooted in both the strength
of the platform and the scale of the opportunity ahead.
“What excites me about Cellulant is the quality of what has already been
built. A deep payment network, strong enterprise partnerships and a real
focus on customer value,” says Darren Makarem, Chief Financial Officer
at Cellulant. “Cellulant’s true strength is its people, obsessed with
solving the toughest payment challenges in the market. My priority is to
ensure the business has the financial discipline, insight and
operational support to move fast, stay bold and keep delivering.”
Cellulant continues to invest in the leadership, infrastructure,
automation and organisational capability required to build a
high-performance, product-centric business that is trusted by customers
and positioned for sustained growth across the continent.
*Source: The Future of Digital Payments in Africa, a report by Genesis
Analytics commissioned by Mastercard (2025).
