Maphai revealed the decision in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, saying the move comes after a period of reflection. "It became clear that the skills and energy needed to start and build a company are not always the same as those required to scale it to the next level," he wrote.
Founded in 2013, Yoco has grown into a household name in South Africa's payments industry, serving hundreds of thousands of small businesses and processing billions of rand in card payments annually. The company has played a central role in bringing digital payments to small merchants that were historically excluded from formal financial systems.
Yoco will continue to be run by its founding team. Fellow co-founders Lungisa Matshoba and Bradley Wattrus will take over the reins as co-CEOs. Matshoba will take charge of innovation and product growth, while Wattrus will focus on governance and scalability. A third co-founder, Carl Wazen, will continue to lead go-to-market and commercial operations.