Gillian Darko steps into VP of Strategy Role at Yellow Card to champion stablecoins in emerging markets

Yellow Card, a leading fintech company specialising in stablecoin-based financial infrastructure, has appointed Gillian Darko as its new Vice President of Strategy. She will sit on the executive team and report directly to the Chief Executive Officer.

Darko, an award-winning executive with an extensive career spanning JP Morgan Asset Management, PwC, and JUMO, previously served as Yellow Card’s Chief of Staff and Director of Strategy. 
Her new role will see her lead the company’s long-term growth strategy, drive innovation initiatives, and oversee expansion into new markets.

The appointment underscores Yellow Card’s focus on embedding strong financial governance into its operations. Darko brings significant experience in board governance and regulatory navigation, having served on executive boards across Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, and Tanzania.

She is also an Ambassador for Women in Payments Africa and a former nominee for Outstanding Woman in Tech, reflecting her commitment to promoting gender diversity in the fintech industry.

“Stepping into this role is about seizing the momentum we’ve built and accelerating it,” Darko said. “My focus is on driving revenue through a powerful growth engine, built on innovative commercial strategies that expand our market presence, unlock new opportunities, and create sustainable value. This means not only leveraging our existing strategic partnerships with global leaders, but actively forging new alliances that strengthen our competitive position and fuel our next phase of growth.”

Yellow Card is the largest licensed stablecoin-based infrastructure provider in Africa, operating in 20 countries across the continent and in other emerging markets. 

Since launching its first product in Nigeria in 2019, the company has processed nearly US$6 billion in transactions, 99 per cent of which are in stablecoins. 

It offers services to help businesses make international payments, safeguard assets, manage treasury operations, and access hard currency liquidity, using stablecoins pegged to the US dollar such as USDC, USDT, and PYUSD.

The company employs over 200 people from 24 countries and has raised US$85 million in equity financing to date.