Obinna Chukwujioke, Co-Founder of Maplerad, says his journey into fintech began with a personal experience.
“After facing the challenge of cross-border payment first-hand and the fact that fintech is at the core of every business,” he said, “I realised that for any business to generate revenue, it needs to receive money. So there has to be a money movement of some sort. With this comes a lot of challenges, so I decided to choose a challenge and solve it, more like making the world of payments a better place.”
At the heart of Maplerad’s work is a simple goal: to make it easier for individuals and businesses to move money across borders with speed and security. Under Chukwujioke’s leadership, the company has processed over $100 million in transactions and built a presence in key markets including the US, UK, Ghana, and Tanzania.
Reflecting on the journey, Chukwujioke points to the specific gaps in Africa’s financial systems that inspired Maplerad’s creation. “One of the biggest challenges was the complexity of banking infrastructure,” he explained. “Businesses often struggled to manage relationships with multiple banks, navigate compliance requirements, and secure licences, a process that could take months and slow down innovation.”
Regulatory fragmentation was another hurdle. With 54 countries operating under different financial regulations, compliance requirements were inconsistent and made it difficult for businesses to scale across borders. “Infrastructure limitations also meant that payment processing and cross-border transactions were often slow and inefficient,” he added.
There was also the challenge of interoperability. “Payment systems across Africa are fragmented and don’t talk to each other,” Chukwujioke said. “Maplerad was designed to aggregate these systems into one platform, enabling businesses and individuals to transact seamlessly, regardless of the payment method.”
By building a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform, Maplerad simplifies the banking stack, handles compliance, and enables businesses to launch financial products in minutes rather than months. The aim, Chukwujioke says, is to give businesses the tools to go global from day one, while providing scalable infrastructure tailored to Africa’s realities.
Outside of Maplerad, Chukwujioke draws motivation from the discipline of daily routines. “It can be a mixture of things,” he said. “I try to organise my personal life, from keeping my closet tidy to doing laundry. Completing these little tasks somehow keeps me motivated to achieve broader goals.”
Scaling the company across Africa, the UK, and the US has not been without its challenges. In Africa, navigating fragmented regulatory environments has meant engaging directly with regulators to align operations. Infrastructure gaps, such as unreliable internet in certain markets, have pushed the team to develop robust, low-bandwidth solutions.
“In the UK and US, the challenge was different,” he noted. “We had to build trust with institutional partners while competing with established BaaS players. That meant focusing on superior technology and strategic partnerships.” Managing a team spread across continents also tested his leadership skills. “Keeping everyone aligned under a shared vision required clear communication, cross-functional collaboration, and regular strategy sessions,” he said.
For Chukwujioke, building for Africa goes beyond profit margins. It is about solving real problems and contributing to economic growth. “If I have experienced a challenge, it’s likely someone else has too. If I can solve it for myself, I’m solving it for someone else,” he said.
Part of maintaining Maplerad’s agility, he explained, is having the right organisational culture. The company operates a flat structure that encourages open communication and rapid decision-making. Weekly cross-functional syncs bring together product, engineering, and compliance teams, ensuring that collaboration drives every step of development.
“I believe in hiring versatile, problem-solving talent and giving them the autonomy to experiment within defined frameworks,” he said. “Our ‘fail-fast, learn-faster’ approach allows us to iterate quickly and stay focused on our mission. We also have regular customer feedback loops to keep us grounded in real-world needs.”
After a demanding week, Chukwujioke likes to keep things simple. “I spend some time in the gym, get some sleep and then catch up with family and friends,” he said.
His advice to young professionals looking to enter the tech or fintech space is both practical and aspirational: “Be and build the change you want to see. Then you need a lot of patience.”
Through Maplerad, Chukwujioke continues to contribute to Africa’s financial infrastructure one solution at a time, driven not just by ambition but by a commitment to shared growth and practical impact.
