Ghanaian fintech Dash suspends CEO over financial impropriety allegations
Dash, a fintech company that offers a unified payments system for mobile money and traditional bank accounts in Africa, has suspended its founder and CEO, Prince Boakye Boampong, pending an investigation into financial impropriety, TechCrunch reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The board has replaced Boampong with Kenneth Kinyua, the former CEO of Pan-African payments business Kopo Kopo, who recently joined Dash for a regional leadership role in East Africa. Kinyua will serve as interim CEO.
Boampong is a well-known serial entrepreneur in Africa, having co-launched YC-backed Ghanaian media startup OMG Digital in 2016, before founding Dash in 2019. The company raised $32.8 million in equity funding last March, valuing it at over $200 million.
By March 2022, Dash's total processing volume topped $1 billion and had acquired a million users from Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria.
While Dash's rapid growth over the past year has attracted significant investment, questions have been raised about the accuracy of its user and transaction volume figures. Sources suggest that Boampong was suspended for engaging in financial misreporting. Dash's board, however, has said that the CEO is on "indefinite administrative leave" pending a forensic financial audit of the company.
The audit is expected to be completed within a month. Meanwhile, sources familiar with the company's internal operations allege that executives repeatedly concealed financial information and described a disorganized workplace where employees resigned and were laid off at will.
