MONTVALE, N.J., Oct. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tingo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TIO) (“Tingo” or the “Company”), a profitable and fast growing fintech, agri-fintech, and food company, today announced a further significant strengthening of its Board of Directors and Executive Team through the appointments of Amir Ayalon as the Group’s Chief Financial Officer, C. Derek Campbell as a Group Independent Director and Chairman of the Company’s new Strategic Growth Committee, and Gabriel David as Chief Audit Executive. All three appointments, which are effective immediately, bring a wealth of financial, strategic and leadership expertise and experience to the Company.

Having qualified as a Certified Public Accountant with Ernst & Young at the start of his career, Mr. Ayalon’s experience as an accomplished CEO and Executive at numerous public and private growth companies in the technology and food manufacturing sectors, as an investment banker with UBS and Bank of America, and as Chief Executive Officer of one of Israel’s largest hedge funds, makes him uniquely qualified for the position of Group CFO, and to work with the Company’s Co-CEOs and management team to execute its growth plans and maximize the group’s potential.

Mr. Ayalon is a highly accomplished senior executive with over 20 years of cross-industrial involvement in global financial advisory and investment, as well as operational management roles within corporates, hedge funds and investment banks. Mr. Ayalon’s operational experience spans a variety of industries including fintech, financial services, software and food manufacturing, which are complementary to the Company’s business. Until earlier this year, Mr. Ayalon served as CEO of Celsius Mining, where he was instrumental in rapidly building and scaling the business to a multi-billion-dollar valuation and preparing the company for its planned IPO in mid-2022. Prior to joining Celsius Mining, Mr. Ayalon served in multiple roles including as CEO of a private capital raising and M&A advisory firm, as well as CEO of two venture stage technology companies. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Ayalon was the CEO of Sphera Funds Management, one of Israel’s largest hedge funds with offices in Tel Aviv and New York City, prior to which he worked as an M&A banker with UBS and Bank of America, was head of M&A at Nasdaq listed company, Amdocs, and head of corporate development at Tel Aviv Stock Exchange listed company, Strauss Group. Mr. Ayalon also served on the board of Fruitura Bioscience Ltd., an emerging nutraceutical and food manufacturing company from 2011 to 2015 and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting & Economics from Tel Aviv University and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.

The appointment of C. Derek Campbell as a Group Independent Director and Chairman of the new Strategic Growth Committee at Tingo represents a significant enhancement to our board. Mr. Campbell is an experienced senior executive leader and strategic advisor with business interests across the energy, natural resources, infrastructure, security, and defense sectors. He is the Group Managing Partner of LVC Global Holdings, LLC, an international asset acquisition, investment, and consulting platform that optimizes and monetizes opportunity flow across the Emerging and Frontier Markets, with a particular focus on Africa.

Mr. Campbell is also a Distinguished Fellow of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils, a former Principal Committee Member of U.S. EXIM Bank’s Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee, and a former Advisory Board Member of the African Energy Chamber. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Maryland and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. Additionally, Mr. Campbell is a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, having served with distinction in operational combat tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Sudan. He also served in high-level staff tours as the U.S. Marine & Naval Attaché to Nigeria, the Chief of Military Plans for the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and the U.S. Marine Corps Liaison Officer to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

The Company has also appointed Gabriel David as Chief Audit Executive. Mr. David has extensive experience as a financial compliance and internal audit leader with international public companies. Prior to joining Tingo, Mr. David was Regional Director of Financial Compliance at Orbia, a company providing specialty products and methodologies in the agriculture, building and infrastructure and data communications sectors. He was the Corporate Internal Auditor at Nasdaq listed Tower Semiconductor and Newport Corporation, where he was responsible for all internal audit staff and assignments; and also served with Ernst & Young in Israel and Australia for seven years, specializing in risk advisory, internal audit and SOX compliance. Mr. David is a Certified Fraud Examiner of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors, and Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. Mr. David holds bachelor’s degrees in Commerce and Accounting & Information Systems from the University of New South Wales.

Concurrent with the above three appointments, the Company’s current Group Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Chen, will move into the position of Asia Chief Financial Officer to oversee the finances of the Company’s businesses in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

John Scott, Chairman of Tingo Group, Inc. commented: “We welcome Amir, Derek and Gabriel to the Company and look forward to working with them in their respective roles. We are delighted to be in a position to benefit from the new appointees’ collective skillsets and extensive experience covering a broad spectrum of specialties, all of which should prove hugely valuable as we expand and develop our business further.”

Dozy Mmobuosi, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tingo Group, Inc. commented: “Amir’s appointment, with his depth and breadth of experience in leading and growing public companies and overseeing their finances, as well as in investment banking and financial institutions, represents a significant strengthening of our executive team. This, alongside the appointment of Gabriel, will also further improve our internal audit function and develop and implement additional internal controls. In addition, Derek’s vast experience in Africa will provide valuable insight to the Board and help us expand our reach across the African Continent and improve the profile and status of our Company in the U.S. and global markets.”

Ken Denos, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tingo Group, Inc. commented: “Amir Ayalon and Gabriel David join us at a critically important time as we continue to strengthen our internal infrastructure, financial management, internal controls and financial reporting to position the Company for further growth and development. C. Derek Campbell’s appointment is equally important, bearing in mind his extensive U.S. and Africa diplomatic and strategic experience, as we seek to improve the market’s awareness of the Company and our vision.”

About Tingo Group

Tingo Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: TIO) is a global Fintech and Agri-Fintech group of companies with operations in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Tingo Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tingo Mobile, is a leading Agri-Fintech company operating in Africa, with a comprehensive portfolio of innovative products, including a ‘device as a service’ smartphone and a value-added service platform. As part of its globalization strategy, Tingo Mobile has recently begun to expand internationally and entered into trade partnerships that are contracted to increase the number of subscribed farmers from 9.3 million in 2022 to more than 32 million, providing them with access to services including, among others, the Nwassa ‘seed-to-sale’ marketplace platform, insurance, micro-finance, and mobile phone and data top-up. Tingo Group’s other Tingo business verticals include: TingoPay, a SuperApp in partnership with Visa, offering a wide range of B2C and B2B services including payment services, an e-wallet, foreign exchange and merchant services; Tingo Foods, a food processing business that processes raw foods into finished products such as rice, groundnut oil, nut products, wheat, millet and maize; and Tingo DMCC, a commodity trading platform and agricultural commodities export business based out of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center. In addition to its Tingo business verticals, Tingo Group also holds and operates an insurance brokerage platform business in China; and Magpie Securities, a regulated finance services Fintech business operating out of Hong Kong and Singapore. For more information visit tingogroup.com.

Disclaimer

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management and the Company’s board of director’s view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward-looking statements. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed and identified in public filings made with the SEC by the Company and: (i) the results of the independent review; (ii) the risk of restatement of the Company’s previously reported financial statements or the identification of one or more material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting; (iii) costs relating to the independent review, which are likely to be material; (iv) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Company, including as may result from the independent review and (v) the ability to meet stock exchange continued listing standards. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.

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