Head of Tax (West Africa)

[https://app.ashbyhq.com/api/images/user-content/1d985516-2a99-43c0-b591-957f5adaceb9/5ac97b31-49cd-4012-8bb0-5caf15e33c69/B25.png] HEAD OF TAX, WEST AFRICA — M-KOPA (NIGERIA / GHANA) [https://app.ashbyhq.com/api/images/user-content/1d985516-2a99-43c0-b591-957f5adaceb9/2cd17093-4270-4c5d-b833-5bba1376d052/image.png] You've spent years doing the difficult, detail-intensive work of Nigerian tax well. You understand CIT, VAT, and WHT not as abstract compliance obligations but as levers with real business consequences. You've sat across the table from the FIRS, defended positions that matter, and built the kind of technical credibility that earns trust from both finance leadership and external authorities. You're accomplished. Probably respected. And likely working in an environment where your expertise is deployed within a structure that someone else built. Here's the question worth sitting with: what would it look like to build that structure yourself? M-KOPA is creating its first dedicated in-house tax lead for West Africa — and this isn't a role that slots into an existing function. This is a founding role. The person who takes it will build the tax capability for our Nigerian and Ghanaian entities from the ground up, embed tax discipline into commercial decision-making at the highest level, and serve as the region's primary interface with the NRS and GRA. If the prospect of building something significant — from the inside, with real authority — doesn't appeal to you, this probably isn't the right move. If it does, keep reading. [https://app.ashbyhq.com/api/images/user-content/1d985516-2a99-43c0-b591-957f5adaceb9/eca36ab6-c815-470d-a8ea-936acc9fcb2d/image.png] Why this moment matters M-KOPA has now served more than 7 million customers across Africa, unlocked over $2 billion in credit, and reached 55% of customers who are accessing formal financial services for the very first time. We're growing toward 10 million customers — deliberately, market by market — and Nigeria and Ghana are central to that trajectory. That growth creates tax complexity of real consequence: multi-entity structures, intercompany flows, device import strategies, high-volume consumer transactions, and an evolving legislative landscape that includes Nigeria's Tax Reform Bills. None of this is routine. All of it requires someone who can hold the technical detail and translate it into business-ready advice — and who can do so without the safety net of a Big 4 team standing behind them. This is M-KOPA's first in-house tax hire for the region. That means the frameworks, the relationships, the audit-readiness posture, and the internal controls — you'll design them. That's an unusual level of ownership for a role at this level. It's also what makes it worth considering. [https://app.ashbyhq.com/api/images/user-content/1d985516-2a99-43c0-b591-957f5adaceb9/478b2438-f3fb-4273-b073-1e0469a13eda/image.png] What this role actually looks like You'll own end-to-end tax compliance for Nigeria and Ghana: CIT provisioning, capital allowance schedules, tax loss utilisation and annual filings, VAT treatment across hardware, service fees, platform charges and intercompany transactions, and WHT obligations on vendor payments, management fees, royalties, and dividend distributions. You'll prepare and review monthly and quarterly tax provisions for inclusion in management accounts and statutory reporting — and you'll be accountable for the accuracy, timeliness, and defensibility of every position you take. On transfer pricing, you'll prepare and maintain contemporaneous documentation in line with both jurisdictions' TP requirements, support CbCR obligations, and liaise with Group Finance on global TP policy alignment — ensuring that intercompany pricing across service fees, procurement flows, and platform charges is documented to withstand scrutiny. You'll serve as M-KOPA's primary interface with the NRS and GRA across audits, assessments, enquiries, and objections — developing an audit-readiness framework that means we're never caught off guard. External advisors will remain part of the picture, but you'll manage their deployment with cost discipline, reserving specialist support for genuinely contentious matters. Commercially, you'll provide tax input into entity structuring, product launches, device import strategies (CBU versus CKD/SKD analysis), and market entry considerations. You'll monitor legislative developments — including Nigeria's Tax Reform Bill — and translate their implications into clear, actionable guidance for the business. You'll also collaborate with Supply Chain on customs duty strategy and landed cost modelling, including investment concession analysis. Over time, you'll build a team. You'll begin as a sole contributor with a Ghana-based direct report to be brought on as the market scales, and you'll serve as technical coach and resource to the broader finance function across both markets. [https://app.ashbyhq.com/api/images/user-content/1d985516-2a99-43c0-b591-957f5adaceb9/ab74c396-f520-4df6-823e-94a0590d3472/image.png] What makes you ready for this - Qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAN, ACCA, or equivalent) with a professional tax qualification or deep specialisation in Nigerian corporate tax — including demonstrable experience across CIT, VAT, WHT, and transfer pricing, and a proven track record managing NRS audit engagements and tax authority relationships. - Extensive experience preparing transfer pricing documentation and managing TP risk in a multi-entity environment, combined with strong working knowledge of IFRS and the interaction between accounting standards and tax treatments. - Demonstrated capability operating across multiple West African jurisdictions, or a strong understanding of Ghana's tax regime in addition to Nigeria — with the credibility to represent M-KOPA authoritatively with both the NRS and GRA. The reality check This is a founding role in a fast-scaling fintech. There is no established play