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Julian Mitchell appointed CEO at 4G Capital

Updated: Jun 7

16 September 2024: Nairobi, Kenya: 4G Capital, have appointed Julian Mitchell CEO, effective Monday 16 September 2024. Julian will be Kenya based, working alongside founder and Executive Chairman Wayne Hennessy-Barret  and the 4G Capital team to drive the ongoing rapid expansion of the business. With 552 M USD in loans delivered to date, 4G plays an increasingly substantive role in   powering micro and small business growth in Kenya and Uganda.

 

Julian was previously CEO of Inspirafarms, and prior to that, Managing Director of M-Kopa Uganda. He has a strong track record of leading commercial success, including product development, capital raising and optimizing organizational efficiencies.  (Further background on Julian below).


Julian says “I am delighted to join 4G Capital, a company that has made such a profound impact on the growth and success of micro and small enterprises across Kenya and Uganda.  4G Capital’s unique approach, combining rapid decision-making, innovative touch-tech channels, and a strong focus on customer protection and training has positioned it as a leader in financial inclusion.  I am incredibly proud to be part of this mission and look forward to helping even more businesses thrive by providing the right capital and knowledge.”

 

Founder Wayne Hennessy-barret says: “We are extremely lucky to have Julian join us at this exciting time, when we are exceeding our operational, financing and transformation targets this year.  This is a planned evolution in our journey from startup to scale-up, and we’re committed to the best practice of separating CEO and Chair roles.  We have a vision to democratise wealth creation and supercharge small business growth from the ground up.  11 years in, we’re just getting started!”

 

Founder Wayne Hennessy-Barret is remaining in his role as Executive Chairman, responsible for overall strategy, partnerships, capitalisation, advocacy and key

 stakeholder engagement.  He will continue to collaborate with global and African leaders to ensure that 4G Capital continues to scale sustainably whilst supporting the company achieve its financial and impact targets, upholding its exemplary reputation for customer protection and financial inclusion.   The company’s scalable and capital-efficient model has loaned over $552.5 million between 2016-2024, significantly higher than the microfinance industry average lending-to-capital ratio.  From inception it has prioritised its customers and partners, who grow their revenues on average 82% each year, seeing it recertify as Africa’s highest scoring B Corp.

 

Ends

 

Background

4G Capital provides 100% unsecured working-capital loans, enterprise training, and access to digital solutions for predominantly informal Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs). These entrepreneurial companies are the backbone of Africa’s economies and support 80% of Africa’s employment and over half of the region’s GDP. Most of these businesses cannot access traditional sources of finance and lack the cashflow to grow their companies.  According to the IFC’s SME Finance Forum, Africa’s MSME finance gap is $331bn; in Kenya, the finance gap is $19bn. Without access to institutional capital, 72% of MSMEs rely on family or friends for loans and 30% fail due to funding shortages. 

 

4G Capital is committed to delivering the right products and services that bridge the MSME finance gap in Africa and plays a vital role in the informal sector's economic advancement on a pathway to formality.  The company blends client-centric relationship management with proprietary AI technology to minimise default risk.  4G Capital’s clients maintain high repayment rates (around 95%) without needing refinancing; on average, customers increase their annual revenue by 82%.  One of the world’s top 10 Finance B-Corporations, 4G Capital, has positively impacted over 4 million people.

 

 

Julian Mitchell

 

Julian is a seasoned senior leader and impact champion who has successfully shaped, led and delivered high performance teams at AFB, M-Kopa and Inspirafarms after an initial career in the British Army.

 

Julian’s professional life began as a Royal Engineers officer with worldwide service in a variety of command and specialist roles.  He moved to Kenya in 2012 with AFB (a South African consumer finance startup), successfully piloting and launching an unsecured credit card and grew the loan book to KES 1.3b with 130 merchants and a highly capable collections team.  Following AFB Julian held a variety of roles at M-Kopa, reconfiguring customer care, building the telesales channel, and working as the Acting Chief Credit Officer.  As Managing Director of M-Kopa Uganda, Julian led a team of 200 employees and 500 commissioned agents to profitability and launched their pay-as-you-go smartphone product.  Most recently he was CEO of Inspirafarms, bringing improved commercial focus and doubling year-on-year contracts with a near 100% customer return rate.  He raised around $8m worth of capital to accelerate  access to energy-efficient, affordable cold storage to reduce wastage and build resilient value chains. Notes to Editors / Further Information:

 

 

 For inquiries, please contact Wayne at

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