Fintech Expansion Propelled by Clowd9, Spanning Financial Services from Lagos to London
In a recent visit to Lagos, a UK business delegation was organised by London & Partners, the Mayor of London's trade and investment agency. The delegation was welcomed by Olatunbosun Alake, Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, who highlighted the state's bold investments in digital infrastructure and support for grassroots startups.
Alake urged UK investors to embrace deeper collaboration with Nigerian innovators for the creation of the Lagos-London Innovation Corridor. He emphasised the importance of shared value, ethical AI, and fintech infrastructure linking the global North and South.
One company at the forefront of this collaboration is Clowd9, a globally connected platform that enables seamless technical integration across regions. Clowd9's platform, with no physical data centers, no excess hardware, and a pay-as-you-use model, addresses one side of the cross-border challenge.
Clowd9's payments platform delivers services at under 10% of the cost charged by others. The platform bypasses expensive, legacy payment systems through a decentralized issuer-processing architecture hosted on global cloud providers (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure). This innovative approach significantly cuts operational and infrastructure costs for African fintechs, empowering them to innovate locally while scaling globally without geographic or financial constraints.
Clowd9 co-founder and CEO, Suresh Vaghjiani, announced a 90% reduction in card service infrastructure costs for African fintech startups. The company is looking to bring its European success to Africa by equipping Nigerian startups with affordable, scalable infrastructure.
Clowd9 collaborates with companies like SaaScada to provide end-to-end cloud-native core banking and payment solutions tailored for African banks and fintechs. This partnership aims to accelerate service launches, reduce overhead, and extend financial access to underserved and remote markets by replacing costly legacy systems with flexible, integrated, and scalable technology stacks.
Lagos, propelled by a dynamic startup ecosystem, strong creative talent, and practical innovation shaped by real-world challenges, is becoming a key hub in global fintech strategy. Over 4,000km of fiber optics have been laid in Lagos, and innovation hubs have been established in underserved areas.
Regulatory barriers remain a significant challenge for Nigerian companies expanding abroad, but the narrative is shifting due to companies like Moneypoint and Flutterwave. Nigerian firms expanding abroad are frequently viewed as high-risk, even when compliant, but this perception is changing.
British capital and Nigerian creativity, according to Alake, define the future of global tech. Clowd9's platform supports African fintech startups, including leading fintechs such as Revolut, Monzo, and Starling Bank, in their mission to innovate and scale. The visit to Lagos by the UK delegation underscores Lagos's growing role as a key hub in global fintech strategy.
Startup ecosystem in Lagos is receiving support from the UK business delegation for deeper collaboration, aiming to create the Lagos-London Innovation Corridor. Clowd9, a platform that offers affordable and scalable infrastructure for fintech startups, is one example of such collaboration, cutting operational costs and providing partnerships with flexible, integrated, and scalable technology stacks.
