Technology expert Babatunde Esanju played a central role in building the technology infrastructure behind QOOP’s cooperative finance platform, helping the Nigerian fintech transform traditional cooperative operations into a fully integrated digital ecosystem serving more than 20,000 members.
During nearly three years at the company, Esanju led the development of systems that connected savings, lending, digital wallets and merchant payments into a single platform designed to improve transparency, efficiency and access to financial services for cooperative members.
Esanju joined QOOP as lead software engineer in July 2021, when the company was expanding its digital cooperative finance services. In April 2023, he was promoted to Chief Technology Officer (CTO), overseeing the company’s technology strategy, product architecture and engineering direction until April 2024.
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According to QOOP chief executive officer, Dele Odufuye, the company needed more than software upgrades. It required an integrated technology platform capable of bringing together multiple financial services while maintaining the accountability and governance that cooperative finance demands.
“When Babatunde became Lead Software Engineer, the challenge was not simply to add features. We needed to connect contributions, lending, wallet activity and merchant transactions in a way that cooperative administrators could control and members could understand. He helped turn that requirement into an engineering roadmap,” Odufuye said.
One of the major projects completed during Esanju’s tenure was the development of a distributed Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform that linked QOOP’s QPAY Loan service with QOOP Mall. The engineering team deployed the platform using Kubernetes while integrating TensorFlow-based machine learning models to improve fraud detection and strengthen credit-risk assessment.
Esanju said the technology choices were driven by business needs rather than the desire to deploy advanced tools.
“We chose it because the platform had to process connected lending and commerce workflows without losing traceability. Kubernetes gave us a more controlled way to scale services, while the risk models helped us make credit decisions using more than a simple manual check,” he explained.
The company said the improvements produced measurable business outcomes. Over two years, QOOP recorded a 30 per cent increase in revenue, improved loan approval accuracy by 40 per cent and reduced loan default rates by 25 per cent compared with its previous lending process.
Odufuye attributed the performance to stronger integration between lending services and merchant purchases, supported by better credit assessment capabilities.
Beyond lending, Esanju also led the development of a financial-aid disbursement portal that digitised application processing, eligibility verification and payment records for more than 4,000 cooperative members. The platform replaced significant parts of a manual process, making financial assistance faster while improving record keeping and accountability.
According to Esanju, the project highlighted the importance of reliability in financial technology systems.
“The disbursement portal was one of the clearest tests of the platform. We had to process thousands of applications while keeping every eligibility decision and disbursement traceable. An error was not just a technical issue. It could affect a member who was waiting for financial support,” he said.
The broader platform also enabled cooperative members to monitor their savings, contributions, outstanding loans and repayments through digital channels, while providing administrators with a centralised system for managing financial records and transactions.
As his responsibilities expanded beyond software development into technology planning and business strategy, Esanju was promoted to Chief Technology Officer.
Odufuye said the promotion recognised the leadership role Esanju had already assumed within the company.
“Babatunde had moved beyond leading development tasks. He was making decisions about platform architecture, engineering priorities and how technology would support QOOP’s commercial direction. The CTO appointment formalised the level of leadership he was already providing,” he said.
Looking beyond QOOP, Esanju believes technology should strengthen the cooperative model rather than replace the governance structures that have traditionally supported community finance.
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“Cooperatives already have participation, accountability and a shared purpose. Technology should not erase that structure. It should give members better visibility, reduce administrative work and create a secure foundation for savings, responsible credit and commerce,” he said.
As digital financial services continue to expand across Africa, QOOP said its experience demonstrates how modern technology infrastructure can improve transparency, operational efficiency and financial inclusion for cooperatives, workplace associations and other community-based financial organisations.
The company’s journey also reflects the growing role software engineering and digital infrastructure now play in modernising cooperative finance, helping traditional savings groups adopt secure, scalable platforms capable of supporting larger memberships and more sophisticated financial services.
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