Okra Co-Founder Fara Ashiru Leaves for UK Startup Role After Company Shutdown

Co-founder and former CEO/CTO of Nigerian fintech company Okra, Fara Ashiru Jituboh, has resigned from her position to become Head of Engineering at Kernel, a Revenue Operations (RevOps) firm located in the UK. This  career change coincides with Okra’s May 2025 closure, which signaled the end of what was formerly thought to be Africa’s top open banking platform.

She moved into the  expanding field of artificial intelligence with her new job, Kernel, which specializes in creating AI-powered agents for revenue operations. As the business develops its AI skills in the cutthroat RevOps sector, Kernel is enlisting Ashiru to spearhead technological growth.

The Beginning and End of Okra

Okra started off with the intention of increasing access to financial data throughout Africa. African open banking was shown by Okra, which promised “one API for all financial data.” The firm attracted large investors and collaborations as it gained traction in Nigeria’s fintech space.

A $3.5 million seed round supported by Susa Ventures, Accenture Ventures, and TLcom Capital was part of the company’s financial history; over $16.5 million was raised overall throughout the course of its operations. The great hopes for open banking in Africa were  in these investments.

However, the company faced  challenges that  led to its closure. Analysts have attributed Okra’s shutdown to various challenges, including a competitive and regulatory environment, economic volatility, and rising cloud infrastructure costs.

One of the primary challenges  behind Okra’s struggles was Nigeria’s regulatory system. Nigeria’s long-awaited open-banking rules won’t be enforced until August 2025, which puts a pause to the  revenue growth for API providers. This regulatory delay caused significant doubts for companies like Okra that built their business models around open banking infrastructure.

The delayed regulatory system  meant that many financial institutions remained hesitant to fully embrace open banking solutions, limiting Okra’s ability to scale and generate revenue. This  uncertainty, combined with economic instability in Nigeria, created a challenging environment for the startup.

Before founding Okra, Ashiru built a career working with major  startups across different markets. Before founding Okra, Fara gained experience building and scaling products in upcoming markets and venture based startups by working with multiple Fortune 500 companies and startups in the USA, including JP Morgan Chase, Sana Benefits, Fidelity Investments, and Canva to mention a few. 

This different experience from financial services, technology, and automotive sectors provided Ashiru with  insights into product development and challenges across different industries. Her background at JP Morgan Chase and Fidelity Investments was particularly relevant to her work.

As Ashiru begins her new role at Kernel, her experience building products in emerging markets could prove valuable in the RevOps space. Her understanding of both technical challenges and market dynamics positions her well for success in her new environment.

For Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, Ashiru’s departure represents the loss of an important figure, but also showcases the talent the country has developed in the technology sector.