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Babafemi
Lawal

A builder, operator and investor.

I’ve been building financial products for Africans at home and abroad since 2014. I’m a cofounder of Busha, an SEC licensed digital asset exchange with over a million customers, and of Yousend, a stablecoin powered remittance service sending money from the UK, Canada, Europe and the USA to Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Ivory Coast. SureGifts, the digital gifting and corporate rewards platform we started in Lagos, is where it began, and it’s still running and growing.

My day job is technology operations: making sure our platforms run reliably and stay compliant in every market we’re licensed in. Before founding companies I worked in business intelligence at Jumia in its early years, and at Samsung Electronics West Africa.

Babafemi Lawal, drawn portraitBabafemi Lawal, black and white portrait
1M+
Busha users, with $6B+ traded on Nigeria's first SEC licensed exchange
$100M
Annualised payment volume at Yousend within three months of launch
1.5M+
Vouchers delivered by SureGifts across 250+ retailers
2,000+
Corporate clients running rewards programmes on SureGifts, from telcos to banks

Experience

  1. Jun 2026 – Present
    FCA · FINTRAC · IMTO

    Cofounder

    Stablecoin powered remittances for people sending money home. Live in the UK and Canada since June 2026, with FCA authorisation, FINTRAC registration and a CBN International Money Transfer Operator licence secured before launch. Sends from the UK, Canada, Europe and the USA to Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Ivory Coast.

  2. Jun 2018 – Present
    SEC

    Cofounder

    A regulated digital asset exchange giving individuals and businesses across Africa access to crypto, stablecoins and the rails being built on them. Licensed by Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission as a virtual asset service provider since August 2024. Over one million customers, and expanding into the UK.

  3. 2016 – Present
    Portfolio

    Cofounder

    The private vehicle my cofounders and I use to back early stage technology companies.

  4. Jan 2014 – Present
    Nigeria · Kenya

    Cofounder

    Digital gifting, vouchers and corporate rewards for retailers and companies in Nigeria, and in Kenya since 2016. The first company, still running and still growing.

  5. Jun 2012 – Feb 2014

    Business Analyst, then Head of Business Intelligence (Operations)

    Part of the early team at Jumia Nigeria, working on the data behind retail operations.

  6. Jan 2011 – May 2012

    Data and Retail Management

Companies

Writing

Notes on crypto, remittances and regulation, and whatever else is on my mind, written when there’s something worth saying.

All writing →
Contact

Write to me.

If you're sending money to Africa, looking for an offramp partner in Nigeria, Kenya and across Africa, run a company that needs corporate gifting or employee rewards, or have a startup Hacked Ventures should see, I'd like to hear from you.