Okra, a Nigerian fintech startup, has launched Nebula, its own cloud infrastructure platform.
Nebula is a cloud service designed to support local innovation and reduce reliance on foreign solutions.
Highlighting the critical need for supporting local innovation, Okra’s CEO , Fara Ashiru wrote in a LinkedIn post ;
“For too long, Africa has leaned on imported solutions, paying premiums for software and services,”
Why Nebula?
Built for a better user experience, Nebula was built for the African Market by Africans.
Its unique offers include;
1.Pay in Naira or your local currency—no more unpredictable exchange rates.
2. Lower latency, Tier 3/4 data centers, ensuring reliability like AWS or Azure.
3. Data compliance and security—built with Africa’s regulations in mind.
This features positions Nebula competitively against local rivals like Layer3, especially in a market grappling with severe currency devaluation.
Over the past year, cloud computing costs have more than doubled for Nigerian companies relying on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, all of which charge in US dollars.
Okra’s entry into the cloud sector brings relief among Nigerian tech firms with the option of local currency payment.
Nigeria’s National Cloud Computing Policy, also encourages government agencies to prioritize local cloud service providers.
Making The Switch
According to Abisoye Olaomi, a DevOps engineer at Okra, the fintech company had been using Nebula for 3 months.
“Over the last 3 months, we have migrated all our workflow and applications on Okra to Nebula Cloud, saving us in costs, reducing latency, and increasing our deployment efficiency,” he said.
To enable companies achieve smooth and easy crossover to Nebula, Okra is offering different options:
Pay-as-you-use for flexible responses to business changes, maximizing adaptability, and avoiding budget strain.
Powerful resources gives the freedom to explore and test Nebula with up to 5000 free credits, without any financial commitment,and at no cost
The scale-up programme provides up to 150,000 free credits.
Eligibility is based on the startup stage and affiliation with Okra’s partners.
About Okra
Okra is an open finance company empowering businesses and developers across the African continent to build innovative financial solutions.
With its APIs , it enables banks and other financial service providers to access customers’ data,
Backed by major investors Susa, Base10, TLComCapital and Accenture, it’s products include;
- transactions and comprehensive transaction data
- authentication of financial account credentials
- customer identity verification,
- account balance information,
- income and employment data
- efficient bank payment collection
In April 2020, Okra raised a $1 million pre-seed investment from TLcom Capital, followed by a $3.5 million seed investment a year later to expand across Nigeria.
For Okra, the introduction of Nebula is expected to help it expand its revenue streams.
