After its pre-launch in August, a new digital cooperative society called Cloud Cooperative has been officially launched in Lagos.
Speaking during the launch that was witnessed by players in the industry, the founder of Cloud Cooperative, Oluwaseun Bamiro, said that the initiative to start Cloud Cooperative arose during COVID 19 pandemic, when one of his friends wanted to go to Ilorin with police escort to attend the meeting of a cooperative society.
He recalled that after he had invested over $10,000 to purchase the app for Cloud Cooperative society in the United States (US), the die was cast for Cloud Cooperative to succeed”.
Bamiro added that it was not easy for him to dive into the business of co-operatives coming down from production, shoe-making side to fintech.
“Although as a student of Computer Science, I love tech and I made sure I did not fail my programming language in school. I just like something that makes me think beyond any other person.”
Head of Corporate Service The Fastlane and Co, Olivia Mbonu, recalled that the Nigerian Cooperative Society Act governs Cloud Cooperative. “And we are registered by the director of the cooperative in Lagos State. We got our Lagos State Cooperative license from Lagos State Ministry of Commerce Industry and Cooperative Society. We literally don’t have any business with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). We just want to assure you we are regulatory compliant. We are also doing this to assure you that your fund is safe. ”
Zonal Manager for Wema Bank Apapa, Okwuchi Ugorji, said that cooperative is now about combining technology with what we know as traditional cooperative.
