South African payments firm Yoco is changing leadership after more than a decade of rapid growth. Founding CEO Katlego Maphai is stepping down from the top role, handing over to fellow co-founders Lungisa Matshoba and Bradley Wattrus, who will now serve as co-CEOs. Maphai will stay on in a founder capacity, driving long-term projects to expand Yoco’s impact while the new leaders run daily operations.
The move keeps Yoco under the same founder-led structure that has guided it since 2013.
Maphai, who helped turn Yoco from an idea among friends into South Africa’s largest independent payments platform, will remain involved in strategy and partnerships. During his tenure as CEO, Yoco expanded to over 400,000 merchants and secured more than $170 million in funding. He oversaw the launch of South Africa’s first widely available mobile card machine for small businesses, followed by the introduction of new services such as analytics and sales software.
“Yoco was built on a simple belief: when small businesses thrive, South Africa thrives,” Maphai said in a company statement. “I’m deeply proud of what we’ve created together, and I’m excited to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible for entrepreneurs in this next chapter.”
“My job is to make sure Yoco stays ahead of that curve—to turn complexity into simplicity, and to give small businesses the kind of tools that don’t just help them keep up, but help them grow with confidence,” Matshoba, now leading innovation and product growth said. Wattrus will concentrate on governance and scalability, ensuring Yoco can support its merchant base as it expands further.
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Founded in 2013, Yoco emerged at a time when less than 10% of South African small businesses could accept card payments, despite tens of millions of people holding bank cards. By lowering barriers with mobile devices and software, it helped reshape how informal and small traders transact. Today, the company processes billions in payments annually and counts global investors such as TPG, Partech and Quona among its backers.
For Yoco, the leadership shift signals a new phase: balancing innovation with the systems and discipline needed to grow sustainably. At 39, Maphai remains one of the most visible figures in African fintech, and his move from daily management to longer-term projects underscores the company’s effort to scale without losing its founding culture.
