20 February 2026 – JUMO, the banking technology company behind a new generation of data-orientated financial technology for Africa has appointed Paul Whelpton as CEO. Whelpton takes over from founder and chief executive Andrew Watkins-Ball who has grown the start-up to serve Africa’s top banks and payments companies.
The company was founded in 2015 with a vision of building banking infrastructure that allows banks to reach millions of new customers whilst saving money. During Paul’s nine years at JUMO he has led the teams that have built the information management capabilities of the business, most recently as Chief Product Officer. His expertise in data science, consumer financial product strategy and banking technology has been a key factor in building JUMO to be the continent’s leading banking infrastructure platform.
Andrew Watkins-Ball will support the business as chairman of the board. This will enable Andrew to spend time with key banking partners, making sure that the platform capabilities continue to be built to support the needs of the most important stakeholders.
Andrew Watkins-Ball, JUMO founder and chairman of the board said:
‘Paul grew up in banking and has built the brain of JUMO to deliver incredible results. I am proud to be handing over to him and looking forward to the incredible things that he will bring to JUMO as CEO.’
Paul Whelpton, new JUMO Chief Executive Officer said:
‘I have worked closely with Andrew since JUMO’s early founding years and I am honoured to be taking the lead on JUMO’s next chapter. Africa is expected to drive over half of global population growth by 2050, underpinning the largest structural expansion of bankable customers globally over the next two decades. We are working to be at the heart of that growth.’
In 2024/5 JUMO partnered with mobile network group Orange, fintech Mukuru, Fidelity Bank in Ghana and Standard Bank in Uganda to launch new funding solutions and products. New product and market launches are currently under construction with existing and pipeline partners for 2026.
About JUMO
JUMO’s technology platform enables banks to offer a new generation of digital credit and savings products to millions of entrepreneurs in Africa. JUMO works with partners, such as banks, e-money operators and payments providers. The results allow banks to reach more customers, save money and achieve higher returns and greater scale.
Since its founding in 2015, JUMO has enabled the disbursement of over $9.5 billion worth of loans in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Benin and Cameroon. This has resulted in 37 million new customers for the continent’s leading banks.
With unmatched speed to market and low infrastructure costs, JUMO aims to bring banking to everyone, everywhere, at any time.
