Okra Shuts Down: Fara Ashiru’s Naija Fintech Dream Moves to UK’s Kernel

🇳🇬 Pidgin Version

<p class="my-6 leading-relaxed text-foreground">Ehen, Naija people, how you dey? The fintech space just got some hot amebo, and it’s not the usual sweet gist. Okra, one of Nigeria’s big shots in open banking, has shut down after six years of shaking things up. Co-founder Fara Ashiru Jituboh, the brain behind this game-changer, has packed her bags and moved to the UK to join Kernel as Head of Engineering. </p><p class="my-6 leading-relaxed text-foreground">Omo, this one hit like a thunderbolt! Back in 2019, Fara and her partner David Peterside started Okra with a proper Naija vibe—solving real problems. Fara, who had worked with big names like Canva, BMW, and JP Morgan, came back home frustrated that apps like Mint couldn’t connect to Nigerian banks. So, she built Okra’s APIs to let people link their bank accounts to third-party apps, making life easier for fintech users. </p><p class="my-6 leading-relaxed text-foreground">The hustle paid off! By 2020, Okra’s API usage jumped by 175%, and they partnered with heavyweights like Renmoney, Branch, Bamboo, and AIICO Insurance. Investors were feeling the groove too, pumping over $16.5 million into Okra, with $1 million from TLcom Capital and $3.5 million from Susa Ventures. But, wahala dey o. Nigeria’s economy, with naira devaluation and skyrocketing cloud costs, wasn’t playing nice. Okra tried to pivot with Nebula, a naira-based cloud platform to rival AWS and Azure, launched in October 2024. The idea was to save local startups from dollar wahala, but it seems the market no gree. </p><p class="my-6 leading-relaxed text-foreground">By May 2025, Okra pulled the plug, and Fara stepped down. She’s now with Kernel, a UK startup building AI-powered revenue tools—a new chapter for this Naija queen. </p><p class="my-6 leading-relaxed text-foreground">This gist isn’t just about Okra’s end, it’s a wake-up call for Naija’s fintech ecosystem. Regulatory delays, like the Central Bank’s open banking rules not kicking in until August 2025, and tough competition from players like Mono and Stitch, made things hard. Yet, Fara’s legacy lives on—she showed us how to dream big and innovate, even when the odds are stacked. So, what’s the next big fintech move for Naija? Abeg, make we dey watch</p>