Director, Strategic Partnerships – Francophone Region

Who We Are

_able builds the credit infrastructure connecting capital providers and distribution platforms across emerging markets. We are not a lender, a consumer fintech, or a software vendor. We are the operating layer that lets partners deploy credit and savings products into the channels their customers already use.

Financial access scales when capital, distribution and operations align. _able creates that alignment.

Banks and institutional investors hold capital. MNOs, fintechs, marketplaces, and card issuers hold distribution and rich behavioural data. Neither side can reach millions of underserved people on its own. _able connects them.

The platform runs across three layers:

• Core Infrastructure powers products, transactions and operations.
• Data and Intelligence turns behaviour into decisions, optimisation and growth.
• Portfolio Management manages performance across risk, liquidity, collections and growth.

We have deployed across multiple markets in Africa and proven the model works. We are building toward one outcome: meaningful financial access for hundreds of millions of people.

 

The Role

As Director, Strategic Partnerships – Francophone Region, you will lead _able’s business development and
partnership strategy across our Francophone Africa markets, starting with our live pilot in Togo and our
upcoming go-lives in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). You will own the end-to-end
partner agenda in these markets – from origination and negotiation through to launch and growth – bringing
native French fluency and in-market presence to relationships our team has so far managed from
Anglophone markets.
This is a hands-on, business-development-led role for someone who can operate as both dealmaker and
operator: comfortable originating and closing partnerships with banks, MNOs, and fintechs, and equally
comfortable getting into the detail of a pilot launch. You will work alongside _able’s other Regional Directors
and report into the Head of Partnerships, playing a critical role in _able’s expansion across French-speaking
Africa.

 

Position title: Director, Strategic Partnerships – Francophone Regio

Reports to: VP of Partnerships

Coverage: Togo, Gabon, and DRC + other new Francophone markets as _able expands

Base: Lomé, Togo

Travel: Required
 

Key Responsibilities

Francophone Market Leadership and Ownership
 

• Own and drive _able’s partnership and business development agenda across Togo, Gabon, and
  DRC, acting as the primary in-market representative to partners, regulators, and local stakeholders.
• Lead the transition of Francophone accounts from shared, remote oversight into a dedicated, in-
  market partnership function.

Business Development & Deal Origination

• Identify, pursue, and close new partnership opportunities with banks, MNOs, and fintechs across the Francophone region, building a robust pipeline aligned to _able’s growth targets.
• Structure and negotiate commercial terms with prospective and existing partners, ensuring deals
  align with _able’s revenue-share model and risk appetite.

Pilot and Market Launch Execution

• Lead _able’s Togo pilot through to full commercial scale, resolving on-the-ground blockers and
  codifying learnings into a repeatable Francophone launch playbook.
• Drive the go-live of new partnerships in Francophone Africa coordinating closely with Product, Tech,Finance, Legal and Operations to ensure in-market readiness.
• Own market-entry sequencing and prioritization across the three markets, escalating risks and dependencies to leadership early.

Partner & Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Build and maintain trusted, native-language relationships with partner leadership, regulators, and
  local ecosystem players, closing the language and trust gap that has limited engagement to date
• Serve as the primary escalation point for partner queries and issues across the Francophone
  markets, ensuring prompt, high-quality resolution.
• Represent _able at local industry events, regulatory forums, and partner engagements across the
  region.g across multiple emerging markets) — make data practices auditable, secure, and ethical.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with _able’s other Regional Directors and with Product, Tech, Risk, and Finance to
  align Francophone initiatives with the broader company roadmap.
• Where required collaborate with the legal counsel to translate and localize partner-facing materials,
  contracts, and communications into French, ensuring consistency with _able’s brand and legal
  standards.
• Feed market intelligence and partner feedback into product, pricing, and go-to-market strategy.

Person Specification

Required

• 8+ years of experience in business development, strategic partnerships, or commercial leadership
  within fintech, banking, telco, or digital financial services, ideally with exposure to Francophone
  Africa.
• Native or professional fluency in French, with strong working proficiency in English for cross-team
  collaboration.
• Demonstrated track record of originating, negotiating, and closing partnership or B2B commercial
  agreements with banks, MNOs, or enterprise partners.
• Confident presenter who can pitch and sell _able's proposition to senior bank, MNO, and enterprise stakeholders, building a compelling commercial narrative rather than just running the deal process.
• Direct experience operating in Togo, Gabon, DRC, or a comparable Francophone African market,
  with a strong understanding of the local regulatory and business landscape.
• Comfort leading through ambiguity in early-stage or pilot markets, balancing hands-on execution
  with strategic planning.
• Willingness to be based in the region and to travel frequently and at short notice across Togo,
  Gabon, and DRC.

 

Desired

• Exceptional relationship-building skills, with the ability to build trust quickly with partners, regulators, and internal stakeholders across cultures and languages.
• Strong commercial and analytical mindset, able to size opportunities, structure deals, and defend
  them with data.
• Excellent written and verbal communication in French and English, able to represent _able credibly
  at the executive level.
• Team player who collaborates naturally with fellow Regional Directors and cross-functional teams
  (Product, Tech, Risk, Finance).
• High integrity, resilience, and comfort operating independently in frontier and early-stage markets.

What You’ll Achieve

• Build and own the data backbone of a fast-growing fintech infrastructure business — shaping how _able uses data to deliver embedded financial services at scale.
• Enable smarter, automated risk and credit-scoring engines, powering better financial inclusion and scalable credit/savings/payment solutions for underbanked communities in emerging markets.
• Directly influence portfolio performance, credit losses, pricing accuracy, and capital deployment through data-driven risk, scoring, and analytics systems.
• Empower product, operations, risk, finance, and growth teams with reliable analytics to make data-driven decisions.
• Create and scale a high-performing data team, build a culture of data excellence, and ensure governance and regulatory compliance across markets.
• Build a scalable, AI-driven data platform that compounds over time — creating a defensible intelligence moat that strengthens _able’s products, partnerships, and market leadership.

Culture

At _able, we are a fast-paced, high-performing team driven by a shared passion for building the future of banking and democratising access to finance across emerging markets. Our team operates across offices in Dubai, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Maputo, and Porto, with frequent travel to strengthen connections with colleagues and partners.

We value the impact of working together in person, believing it often delivers results that remote work cannot fully achieve. While work-from-home (WFH) is available for specific requests or situations, our culture emphasises the advantages of being physically present and engaged as a team.

We are entering an exciting phase of hyper-growth, expanding into new markets, scaling operations, and evolving our structures to shape the future of _able in 2026. We are looking for energetic, curious individuals who are passionate about our vision and eager to create value while driving innovation and growth in the markets we operate in. 

We’re thrilled to have you join us as we reshape the financial landscape in emerging markets.

Benefits

• Health Insurance for you and your direct dependants
• Group Bonus Policy
• Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP)
• Mental Health and Wellbeing Platform
• Learning & Development Opportunities (Internal and External)