Bento Africa, the Nigerian HR technology startup facing allegations of tax and pension irregularities, has temporarily shut down operations. The decision follows the resignation of founder and CEO Ebun Okubanjo and the layoff of the engineering team after a protest over unpaid January salaries.
“We will proceed to temporarily shut down operations to bring stability back to the company,” the company’s board wrote in an email seen by . “In view of this, it is important for our clients to refrain from funding their payroll positions during this period. We are confident of the restoration of normalcy soon.”
Bento laid off its 10-person tech team in January after employees refused to work until they received their January salaries. Despite resigning on January 30, Okubanjo told employees on January 31 that salaries would be “strategically delayed” to prioritise processing client payroll, according to Google Chat messages reviewed by . Bento employees collectively agreed to halt operations until paid, citing financial hardship,
The January layoffs effectively crippled Bento’s operations, particularly payroll processing for its clients. At least three clients shared on social media that Bento had not processed payroll for their employees in the first week of February. The company, which had automated salary disbursements, has been manually processing payments since 2024 due to problems with payment processors and reconciling underfunded accounts.
In an email to customers, Bento said it has paid staff their January salaries, and “reactivated key staff to aid in bringing core functionality back online to clear outstanding payroll obligations triggered by our clients.” However, it is still facing problems disbursing payments for some of its customers.
The company plans to refund clients for whom it cannot disburse salaries before the close of business on Tuesday.
The difficulty in payroll processing, abrupt CEO resignation, and allegations of financial discrepancies, including failure to remit tax and pension payments, makes the company’s future uncertain. But in its email to customers, Bento’s board said it is “confident of the restoration of normalcy soon.”
