Fintech Expansion Led by Clowd9, Extending from Lagos to London

Fintech Expansion Led by Clowd9, Extending from Lagos to London

In the dynamic and vibrant startup ecosystem of Lagos, a city propelled by strong creative talent, practical innovation, and real-world challenges, a significant shift is underway. The city, recognised as a key hub in global fintech strategy and a rising force in the global tech economy, is set to witness the arrival of Clowd9, a platform that has been behind leading fintechs such as Revolut, Monzo, and Starling Bank in Europe.

Clowd9 aims to bring its European success to Africa, equipping Nigerian startups with affordable, scalable infrastructure for local and global growth. The platform offers a fully cloud-native, decentralized payments platform that substantially reduces card service infrastructure costs—by up to 90% compared to traditional systems like Visa and Mastercard—while offering scalable, flexible, and pay-as-you-use services without geographic or financial constraints.

This modern approach contrasts with Visa and Mastercard's legacy infrastructures, which are costly and limited. Clowd9's cloud-native architecture uses microservices hosted on major global cloud providers (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure) to enable rapid, affordable deployment of payment and banking services, including issuer processing and cross-border remittances.

Clowd9's strategy emphasizes supporting local innovation by enabling fintech startups and banks to launch products faster, reduce overhead, and reach underserved or remote populations via partnerships such as the one with Nigeria’s Moniepoint GB and cloud-native core banking platform SaaScada.

The UK business delegation, organised by London & Partners, visited Lagos to witness this transformation firsthand. Olatunbosun Alake, the Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, emphasized the state's investments in digital infrastructure, progressive policies, and support for grassroots startups. He also highlighted the importance of shared value, ethical AI, and fintech infrastructure linking the global North and South.

However, regulatory barriers remain a significant challenge for Nigerian companies, often viewed internationally as high-risk despite being compliant. Vaghjiani, Clowd9's co-founder and CEO, discussed these challenges in cross-border transactions, particularly interoperability and regulatory constraints.

Despite these challenges, the perception of Nigerian firms expanding abroad as risky is shifting, thanks to companies like Moneypoint and Flutterwave. Alake urged UK investors to collaborate deeply with Nigerian innovators to build the Lagos-London Innovation Corridor. Over 4,000km of fiber optics have been laid in Lagos, a testament to the city's commitment to digital progress.

Innovation hubs have been established in underserved areas of Lagos, a move that aligns with Clowd9's commitment to supporting African fintechs with scalable, cloud-native payment solutions that bypass the cost and constraints of legacy systems from Visa and Mastercard. Clowd9's unified global platform enables seamless technical integration across regions, addressing one side of the cross-border challenge.

British capital and Nigerian creativity, according to Alake, define the future of global tech. As Clowd9 sets foot in Africa, it promises to bridge this gap, bringing affordable, scalable, and flexible payment solutions to the continent's burgeoning fintech ecosystems.

The upcoming arrival of Clowd9, a successful European fintech platform, signifies a potential shift in the Nigerian business landscape. By providing scalable and cost-effective cloud-native payment solutions, Clowd9 aims to equip local startups for global growth, contrasting the costly and limited legacy infrastructures of Visa and Mastercard.

Clowd9's strategy of supporting local innovation through rapid deployment, reduction of overhead, and service to underserved populations will contribute to the ongoing transformation of the vibrant startup ecosystem in Lagos, where British capital and Nigerian creativity are defining the future of the global tech economy.

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