More Than Card Manufacturing: Seun Lawal on Cardforté’s Role in Expanding Opportunities, Growth and Talent in Nigeria

In this interview, Seun Lawal, Co-Founder and CEO of Cardforté gets real about what’s happening in Nigeria’s fast-moving fintech space and how his organisation and other local card manufacturers are stepping up to shape the industry. He opens up about the opportunities he sees, the everyday challenges on the ground, and why the government needs to take indigenous companies like his more seriously especially those trying to build lasting solutions from within.

As Cardforté marks five years in business, Seun reflects on how far they’ve come, from driving technology transfer and building local skills to helping the industry grow. He also offers a sneak peek into what’s next: plans to start producing metal cards locally, a move that would boost homegrown capacity and cut down on imports.

Cardforté was established in Nigeria about five years ago. What was the motivation behind it?

For me, the motivation was very clear. I had spent years in the payments and card manufacturing ecosystem, and I could see a real gap in the market. Too many Nigerian institutions, especially smaller banks, fintechs, microfinance banks, and other emerging players, did not have the kind of access they needed to reliable, high-quality card manufacturing and issuance support. The bigger manufacturers were naturally focused on the biggest-volume customers, and that left a large part of the market underserved.

I felt strongly that something this important should not depend almost entirely on foreign supply. We were sending value out of the country, losing foreign exchange, and depending too heavily on external providers for something that is central to payments infrastructure. I believed we could build that capability here in Nigeria, and build it properly. So, CardForté started from that conviction. I wanted to create a business that was not just commercially viable, but also strategically important for the country. We came in to provide speed, flexibility, quality, and real partnership to customers who were not getting enough attention from the traditional market.

My advice to other entrepreneurs is simple: start lean, understand your market deeply, and do not confuse ambition with premature expansion. Build with discipline. Listen to the customer. Stay close to your numbers. And most importantly, be willing to adjust. In a market like Nigeria, adaptability is not optional. It is part of survival.

How did Cardforté choose to serve these gaps?

We chose to serve those gaps by being very intentional about who we were building for and how we wanted to compete. From the beginning, I knew we were not going to win by trying to look like the biggest player in the market overnight. We were going to win by understanding the customer better, responding faster, and building trust through execution…. So, we focused on institutions that needed a partner, not just a supplier. A lot of these customers were growing businesses themselves. They needed flexibility, guidance, responsiveness, and a provider that understood their realities. That became a big part of our positioning.

Over time, what started as a focused card manufacturing and issuance support business became something much broader. It became a story about local capacity, technology transfer, resilience, and building infrastructure that reflects Nigerian realities. I am proud that in five years we have not just grown as a company, but also contributed to skills development, capacity building, and value creation in the wider ecosystem.

Can you say that you are solving a real Nigerian problem with these strides?

Yes, I believe we are solving a real Nigerian problem.

When you look at Nigeria’s financial services space, especially with the rise of fintechs and new financial institutions, the need for trusted local infrastructure is obvious. Many institutions need secure card solutions, fast turnaround, reliable support, and a provider that understands the market they operate in. That need is real, and for a long time it was not being addressed well enough.

What Cardforté has done is to step into that gap with a very practical mindset. We did not build the business around theory. We built it around real customer pain points. We understood that many institutions needed quality, but they also needed speed, flexibility, and a partner that could move with them.

That is why I believe our work matters. We are helping reduce dependency on imports, we are adding value within the local economy, and we are proving that a Nigerian company can deliver at a very high standard in a critical part of the payment’s ecosystem. So yes, I would say we are solving a real problem, and doing it in a way that creates long-term value for the country.

What are the realities you have faced doing this type of business in Nigeria, and what advice do you have for others?

Doing business in Nigeria teaches you very quickly that vision alone is not enough. You need resilience, discipline, and the ability to adapt constantly. You are dealing with foreign exchange volatility, power issues, supply chain disruptions, infrastructure gaps, and sometimes policy or regulatory uncertainty. So even if your strategy is sound, the operating environment will still test you.

For us, one of the smartest decisions we made was to grow in a disciplined way. We did not build an oversized structure from day one. We took a modular approach, scaled carefully, and made sure expansion was tied to real demand. That helped us manage costs, stay responsive, and reduce unnecessary pressure on the business.

My advice to other entrepreneurs is simple: start lean, understand your market deeply, and do not confuse ambition with premature expansion. Build with discipline. Listen to the customer. Stay close to your numbers. And most importantly, be willing to adjust. In a market like Nigeria, adaptability is not optional. It is part of survival.

As an indigenous local company, how would you describe the value you have created in the industry?

One of the biggest values we have created is local capability.

For a long time, there has been a mindset in some sectors that if something is high-value, technical, or security-sensitive, it must come from outside Nigeria. We have challenged that thinking by showing that local manufacturing, when done to the right standard, can deliver quality, reliability, and innovation.

That has real implications for the industry and for the country. It means shorter turnaround times. It means more responsive service. It means less dependence on imports. It means more value retained within Nigeria. And it also means greater data sovereignty, because some critical parts of the card ecosystem can be handled locally rather than being pushed outside the country.

We have also created value through people. We have invested in jobs, training, and talent development across production, operations, sales, compliance, and support functions. One thing I am especially proud of is our graduate recruitment and training programme, where we bring in young talent, identify where they fit best, and help develop them into strong contributors within the industry.

So, when I look at our impact, I do not just see a manufacturing business. I see a company helping to deepen industrial capability, strengthen payments infrastructure, and develop people.

What are the core challenges you face doing business in Nigeria?

One of the biggest challenges is that indigenous manufacturers still do not always receive the level of policy support they should.

I strongly believe that businesses like ours, which have stayed committed to building local capacity and creating value within Nigeria, should be given more deliberate support. For example, I believe government should seriously consider a Right of First Refusal approach for qualified indigenous card manufacturers. That kind of policy would help strengthen local industry, protect strategic capability, and encourage long-term investment in the sector.

How do businesses and corporate organisations see your brand and what is your advice to them?

The reality is that local companies like ours are here for the long term. We are building value and contributing our quota to the economic growth of the country and also investing in people, developing skills.  So, when foreign players come in, compete for opportunities, and may not have the same long-term commitment to local capability, there has to be a broader national conversation about how indigenous businesses are supported.

On the issue of perception, sometimes local firms still have to work harder to prove that they can deliver world-class quality, even when they are already doing so. I think that mindset is changing, but it still needs to change faster.

As you continue to grow, what sustainability strategies are in place, and what does the next phase look like?

As we grow, sustainability is becoming a much more deliberate part of our strategy. Customers increasingly want quality and reliability, but they also want partners that understand where the market is going. That includes sustainability, innovation, and responsible manufacturing.

At Cardforté, we have already taken steps in that direction through our eco-card initiatives, and I am proud that we became the first locally certified vendor by Verve for sustainable and eco-friendly card products on the Verve scheme. That is an important milestone for us because it shows that local manufacturers can also lead in future-facing solutions.

We are also looking beyond conventional plastic cards. One of the areas we are working on is local metal card manufacturing, which will help us serve premium customers and further deepen local production capability.

More broadly, the next phase for Cardforté is about scale, relevance, and deeper infrastructure value. We are not just thinking about making cards. We are thinking about secure identity, trusted access, payment enablement, and how we continue to support institutions that need reliable infrastructure in a digital economy.

For me, that is what the future looks like. It is about building a company that remains commercially strong, operationally disciplined, and strategically important to Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.

“Doing business in Nigeria teaches you very quickly that vision alone is not enough. You need resilience, discipline, and the ability to adapt constantly. You are dealing with foreign exchange volatility, power issues, supply chain disruptions, infrastructure gaps, and sometimes policy or regulatory uncertainty. So even if your strategy is sound, the operating environment will still test you.”