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LemFi has appointed Dr. Haydar Daudu as Head of Regulatory Affairs and Policy for West Africa. Daudu, a former adviser at the Central Bank of Nigeria, will lead the company’s regulatory and policy work across the region, starting with Nigeria. He will work closely with LemFi’s legal, compliance and finance teams.
Daudu is an economist with experience as a public-sector adviser. He previously worked with the Deputy Governor for Economic Policy at the Central Bank of Nigeria and held positions as Senior Economist and Chief of Staff at the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation.
He has a PhD in Economics from Nile University of Nigeria, a first-class degree in Economics from the University of Essex, and an MSc in Development Economics and Policy from the University of Manchester.
Daudu said, “For me, good policy is ultimately about whether institutions and markets work better for people. Cross-border finance has enormous potential to connect families, businesses and economies, but that potential depends on trust, sound regulation and institutions that can keep pace with innovation. I am joining LemFi to help build that bridge: engaging regulators openly, bringing policy insight into the business, and ensuring that growth across West Africa is responsible, credible and genuinely useful to the people we serve.”
In this role, Daudu will lead LemFi’s efforts to engage with regulatory and policy issues across West Africa, beginning with Nigeria. He will collaborate with the legal, compliance, and finance teams to ensure the company meets all regulatory requirements as it grows.
Additionally, he will provide insights on policy to help shape product development, ensuring that regulatory expectations are considered early in the decision-making process. Daudu will also represent LemFi in broader discussions about the governance of cross-border money.
Ridwan Olalere, co-founder and CEO of LemFi, said, “As LemFi continues to grow, we are investing in the senior leadership needed to engage regulators openly, understand evolving policy expectations and maintain the high standards our customers and partners expect. Haydar brings a rare combination of economic-policy experience, regulatory understanding and practical insight into the markets we serve.”
LemFi is a financial technology company that helps immigrants send and receive money across borders.
Founded in 2020 by Ridwan Olalere and Rian Cochran, the company lets users move money to more than 20 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. LemFi is headquartered in London and has raised $85 million in funding to date, including a $53 million Series B round led by Highland Europe.
The announcement comes a couple of months after partnering with enterprise stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to move its cross-border settlement onto regulated stablecoin rails.
In July, the company acquired London-based investment platform Wealth8 after securing approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
In May, the Nigerian company secured a strategic investment from Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer. The new investment will help LemFi accelerate the adoption of stablecoin-powered remittances across emerging markets.
