Leatherback Rebrands to Foren After Zedcrest Buyout

In Short

Leatherback is now Foren. The change comes two months after Zedcrest Group acquired the fintech in July 2026. Foren is shifting its focus to businesses that need cross-border financial services.

What Happened

Leatherback has rebranded to Foren, completing a transition the company says has taken about two years.

The process began with leadership changes. Founder and CEO Ibrahim Ibitade stepped down in October 2024. He was replaced by Toni Campbell, who left in June 2025. The company then appointed a new management team and signalled a strategy shift away from consumers and toward enterprise customers.

Foren’s CEO, Ochebhoya Ekpete, said the team spent two years rebuilding core systems that customers rely on but do not always see. This includes the platform’s technology, compliance processes, and regulatory capabilities. Compliance here means the checks and controls a financial company uses to meet rules on things like onboarding, transaction monitoring, and reporting.

Foren is positioning itself as a single platform for cross-border finance operations. It is offering global accounts, international collections, cross-border payouts, and foreign exchange in one place. Foreign exchange is currency conversion, like switching naira to dollars for a supplier payment. The company also says it offers treasury management, which is how businesses manage cash, liquidity, and currency exposure across accounts.

For existing customers, Foren says accounts will remain active and users will migrate to updated web and mobile apps. It also expects faster onboarding and more payment corridors, meaning more supported routes for sending and receiving money across countries.

Why It Matters

The rebrand signals a clearer focus on enterprise cross-border payments, where reliability, regulation, and risk controls are often as important as features.

Zedcrest’s acquisition gives Foren a stronger capital base and institutional backing, according to the company. It also says it has increased investment in governance and brought in more expertise across compliance, product, legal, and finance.

For African businesses that trade internationally, demand is growing for tools that handle multi-currency accounts, global collections, and supplier payouts without stitching together many providers. Foren is betting that its rebuild and new identity will help it win that market.