/Graveyard/Bento Africa

Bento Africa

HR platform for businesses

Epitaph

“Here lies Bento Africa. It ran payroll, tax and pensions for African companies from one platform. Then it could not make its own payroll: engineers walked out unpaid, the CEO resigned, and the deductions it was trusted to remit went missing.”

Overview

Born: 2017 (Year)
Died: February 2025 (Month)
Lifespan: 8 years
Fate: Shut down
Headquarters: 🇳🇬 Nigeria
Category: Fintech, HR & Talent
Stage at death: Seed
Primary cause: Governance or fraud
Contributing causes: Execution, Funding or runway, Founder or team

Death certificate

Timeline

2017Founded
Bento launched as a Nigerian HR/payroll platform
2024Manual payroll
Company shifts to manual payroll processing due to payment processor issues
January 2025Engineering team exit
Entire 10-person engineering team walks out after unpaid January salaries
30 January 2025CEO resigns
Founder/CEO Ebun Okubanjo resigns and says salaries will be 'strategically delayed'
10 February 2025Shutdown announced
Board announces shutdown 'to bring stability back to the company'

Autopsy report

Why did Bento Africa shut down?

Bento Africa, a Nigerian payroll/HR fintech, shut down operations on February 10, 2025 after unpaid salaries triggered a walkout by its 10-person engineering team, the CEO's resignation, and revelations of unremitted employee tax and pension contributions under investigation by Lagos Internal Revenue Service and the EFCC.

What Bento Africa attempted

An all-in-one HR/payroll platform for African businesses covering payroll, compliance, remittances, hiring, and employee management.

Early warning signs

Manual payroll processing since 2024 due to payment processor issues; underfunded client accounts requiring manual reconciliation; delayed employee salaries; investigations opened by Lagos Internal Revenue Service and the EFCC into unremitted tax and pension deductions.

What happened

Financial strain led Bento to delay its own staff salaries in January 2025; its 10-person engineering team walked out after refusing to work unpaid; CEO Ebun Okubanjo resigned on January 30, 2025; without engineers, automated payroll processing broke down, causing at least three business clients to report failed payroll disbursements; the company announced a shutdown on February 10, 2025 while investigations into tax/pension irregularities proceeded.

Lessons for future builders

A company holding others' payroll and statutory deductions carries sacred trust, and missing those funds ends it instantly. Ring-fence client tax and pension money in separate accounts, reconcile it daily, and never let an operating shortfall touch funds held for third parties.