Fara Ashiru Jituboh, Former Okra CEO, Joins UK RevOps Startup Kernel as Head of Engineering

Fara Ashiru Jituboh, the co-founder and former CEO/CTO of Nigerian fintech pioneer Okra, has taken on a new role as Head of Engineering at Kernel, a UK-based revenue operations startup. Her appointment follows a period of significant transition at Okra, which officially shut down in May 2025 after a bold but ultimately unsustainable pivot into cloud infrastructure.

Jituboh’s exit from Okra, the company she launched with David Peterside in 2019, closes an important chapter in the story of African fintech. Okra was a trailblazer in Nigeria’s open banking movement, enabling real-time connections between users’ bank accounts and financial apps. The platform became foundational to data-driven financial services in the region. Backed by TLcom Capital, Susa Ventures, and others, the startup raised over $15 million and partnered with notable institutions like Access Bank, AIICO Insurance, Bamboo, and Renmoney.

More than a startup, Okra was a signal of change. In a market dominated by legacy systems, it built reliable API infrastructure, empowering developers and fostering innovation. Under Jituboh’s leadership, Okra supported over 400 businesses and enabled critical services such as identity verification, payment initiation, and account data syncing.

However, Okra’s trajectory also reflected the broader challenges in Africa’s startup ecosystem. As Nigeria’s economy faced mounting pressures, exchange rate instability severely impacted operational costs. Cloud infrastructure, priced in US dollars, became the company’s second-largest expense after payroll.

In a bid to take control of its infrastructure stack, Okra launched Nebula in October 2024 — a naira-priced cloud service built on Tier 3 and 4 data centers. It aimed to reduce reliance on global hyperscalers like AWS and Azure. This move aligned with a broader industry trend among Nigerian startups seeking alternatives to dollar-priced platforms. But while technically sound, Nebula struggled to gain traction. High capital demands, a tough macroeconomic climate, and the absence of regulatory support made the pivot difficult to sustain.

Jituboh confirmed in May 2025 that Okra had ceased operations. “We built impactful technology, worked with some of the biggest brands across the continent, and helped pioneer open banking in Africa,” she said.

Her move to Kernel marks a return to technical leadership within a fast-growing segment. Kernel builds software to streamline revenue operations for scaling businesses — a natural fit for Jituboh’s deep experience. With a decade-long career spanning companies like Canva, BMW, and JP Morgan, she brings a rare global perspective on scaling complex systems across different markets.

While Okra’s quiet closure reflects the volatility of tech entrepreneurship in Africa, Jituboh’s next chapter illustrates something equally significant: the global export of African tech talent. From building API infrastructure in Lagos to leading engineering in London, her journey speaks to the continent’s growing influence — ambitious, resilient, and increasingly global.