Bento Africa Halts Operations Amidst Financial Troubles and CEO Exit
Bento Africa, the Nigerian HR technology startup embroiled in allegations of tax and pension irregularities, has temporarily ceased operations.
This decision comes on the heels of founder and CEO Ebun Okubanjo’s resignation and the dismissal of the engineering team following a protest over unpaid January salaries.
“We will proceed to temporarily shut down operations to bring stability back to the company,” the company’s board stated in an email obtained by TechCabal.
They advised clients to refrain from funding their payroll positions during this period, expressing confidence in a swift return to normal operations. The company’s troubles escalated in January when the 10-person tech team was laid off after employees refused to work until their January salaries were paid.
Despite resigning on January 30th, Okubanjo informed employees on January 31st that salaries would be “strategically delayed” to prioritize client payroll, according to Google Chat messages reviewed by TechCabal. Employees subsequently decided to suspend operations until they received their due payments, citing financial difficulties.
These layoffs effectively paralyzed Bento’s operations, particularly its payroll processing services. Several clients publicly shared their experience of not receiving employee payroll in the first week of February. Bento, which had previously automated salary disbursements, has been manually processing payments since 2024 due to issues with payment processors and reconciling underfunded accounts.
In a subsequent email to customers, Bento claimed to have paid staff their January salaries and “reactivated key staff to aid in bringing core functionality back online to clear outstanding payroll obligations triggered by our clients.” However, they continue to face challenges in disbursing payments for some customers.
Bento has committed to refunding clients for whom they cannot process salaries by the close of business on Tuesday. The combination of payroll processing difficulties, the sudden CEO resignation, and allegations of financial discrepancies, including the failure to remit tax and pension payments, casts significant doubt on the company’s future. Despite these challenges, Bento’s board has assured customers of their belief in a prompt return to normalcy.
Source: Techcabal
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