Twiga Foods has announced changes in its top management after Peter Njonjo took a 6-month sabbatical leave.
“The board supports Peter’s decision to take a sabbatical and has full confidence in the capabilities of Twiga’s senior leadership team. On behalf of the board, I thank Peter for his demonstrated commitment in ensuring the completion of Twiga’s recent funding round,” said Hein Pretorius, Chairman of Twiga.
- •Peter Njonjo joined Twiga as Chief Executive Officer in 2019 starting with the distribution of bananas. He said he has decided to take a break after an intense 2023 to focus on personal matters.
- •Laurent Gouault, Twiga Chief Operating Officer, and Zuber Momoniat, Twiga’s Chief Financial Officer will be leading the operational and commercial and finance and legal functions of the company respectively during the period.
- •In a statement, the company said Peter Njonjo will remain on the board of directors.
Founded in 2014, Twiga Foods is a business to business food distribution company that builds markets for agricultural producers and retailers through technology.
The startup is one of the best-funded on the continent, securing a US$10.3 million Series A funding round in 2017, a further US$10 million in November 2018, and US$34.75 million across two rounds in 2019.
- •In August, Twiga announced lay off which targeted 283 employees, representing 33 per cent of its 850 workforces as it pushes for a “lean, agile and cost-effective organization.”
- •The lay-off was the second round after it conducted a similar one in November 2022 which affected 211 of its full-time employees.
- •The company told TechCrunch it has also shut down 10 distribution centers in Nairobi, and moved all operations to a modern 200,000-square-foot warehouse it opened officially last year.
