In early 2023, international business consulting firm Maycode opened its EU office in Luxembourg. The choice of location was natural as the financial industry is one of its main target markets, but the company also considers the central location and exceptional international openness of the Grand Duchy as strategic assets for its future development.
Lena Mårtensson
Regulatory compliance, sustainability, financial crime, data, and technology and risk management: the fields of activity of Maycode reflect the wide experience of its founders. “My partners and I have been helping companies and individuals for over 30 years in different ‘big four’ companies,” says Director Adetoyese Adedokun. “Our service offering varies from risk and compliance requirements in the advisory and audit space to helping clients stay ahead of the curve by being proactive in their strategic outlook of megatrends, in particular in the fields of technology and climate.”
Maycode was created in London in 2013 when the founders saw a gap in the consulting market that they could fill. They also had a vision of building a company that would empower ethnic minorities and support their development in financial services, consulting and other sectors. Since then, it has consistently grown its service portfolio. The latest addition is Complia, an artificial intelligence-powered solution designed to revolutionise compliance. “Our mission is to lead the training, development and deployment of next-generation regulatory compliance solutions driven by generative AI,” Mr Adedokun points out. “Our aim is to reduce the complexity of regulations and unlock additional value.”
The company’s primary offering focuses on financial services, which made Luxembourg a hot candidate for expanding its presence in the European market. “I specialise in regulation, particularly within asset management. And as the cliché says, if you’re not in Luxembourg, you’re not in asset management!” Mr Adedokun jokes with a smile. “We started to build our presence here in 2019 by offering secondment solutions to clients, and last year, we decided that it was time to incorporate and open our EU office in Luxembourg.”
Luxembourg is like a village where everyone knows each other and sees when a stranger has come, so a lot of people have already noticed our presence.
Adetoyese Adedokun, Maycode
Today, a team of five is based in the Grand Duchy. “It is still early days, but Luxembourg is like a village where everyone knows each other and sees when a stranger has come, so a lot of people have already noticed our presence. We are building and growing our foundations here. We have also chosen Luxembourg for the launch of our Complia solution. Initially, we are targeting financial services, but this is just the beginning.”
While access to an interesting client base in the financial sector might have been the first reason for Maycode to choose Luxembourg, it was not the only one. “From its geographical position in Europe, Luxembourg is both central and strategic for working in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium and for reaching out to other European countries. Our plan is to use the country as a base for the wider European market,” says Mr Adedokun.
However, his vision reaches even further. “Luxembourg is a most interesting place to work as it is so very cosmopolitan. A remarkable feature is that close to 50% of the workforce is made up of cross-border workers from the surrounding countries, so having non-Luxembourgers coming to work here every day is part of the national DNA. My dream is to be able to connect Luxembourg with talents from even further away.”
Luxembourg is a most interesting place to work as it is so very cosmopolitan.
Adetoyese Adedokun, Maycode
Mr Adedokun’s focus is in particular on Africa. “As we speak, 40% of the world’s youth is in Africa, and the figure will rise to 60% by 2050. The battlefield for the war of talents is clear. Sub-Saharan Africa now boast maturing financial centres from East to West and in the Southern regions. Examples include Rwanda’s Kigali International Financial Centre set up in 2020 as gateway for foreign investments, growing unicorns from the Nigerian fintech ecosystem and leading financial centres in Mauritius and South Africa. This represents a huge potential, and Luxembourg is strategically positioned to explore outsourcing opportunities. We did not come here by accident, it was a strategic move, and I hope that we can be part of helping the country benefit even further from global diversity.”
Photo credits: Maycode
