Nigeria poise to anchor Africa’s next wave of innovation
Nigeria’s dominance in West Africa’s digital economy positions it as a critical hub for the continent’s next frontier of innovation.
Beneath the country’s e-commerce boom lies a tougher reality, which is that millions of small and informal businesses still struggle with logistics, compliance, credit access, and insurance. These are the under-innovated, operational bottlenecks holding back Nigeria’s true commercial potential, TechCabal Insights’ Future of Commerce Report 2025 noted.
“The future of African commerce is a future of infrastructure which are digital, financial, and logistical, and Nigeria, with its talent and scale, is where that future is already being built,” the report said.
Nigeria anchors nearly 70 percent of West Africa’s 48 million e-commerce users, making it the region’s undisputed commercial hub. With 32.3 million digital shoppers, Lagos alone drives much of this activity, supported by rising internet penetration and a young, connected consumer base, it stated.
One of the standout case studies in the report is OmniRetail, the Nigerian B2B commerce company founded by Deepankar Rustagi. Through its ecosystem of platforms – OmniBiz, Mplify, and OmniPay- the company digitises the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) value chain, connecting over 150,000 retailers with 145 manufacturers and 5,800 distributors across Nigeria, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast.
“Every FMCG transaction has two sides, which are the movement of goods and funds,” Rustagi said. “By aggregating value from both, we’re creating sustainable growth and deepening financial inclusion.”
OmniRetail’s integrated model, combining logistics, finance, and distribution, has made it one of the few profitable African tech companies, recording N1.3 trillion ($810 million) in transaction volume in 2024 and N19 billion ($12 million) monthly in credit disbursements.
The report noted that this model reflects the direction Nigeria’s next wave of startups must take, which is combining commerce, finance, and compliance into unified systems that solve non-negotiable business problems.
“Fintech solved the first layer of access, but now the focus must shift to painkillers, which are B2B platforms solving real problems like financing, supply chain visibility, and compliance,” said Dotun Olowoporoku, managing partner at Ventures Platform.”
Nigeria is set to play a defining role in Africa’s next phase of commercial transformation, which is one driven not by consumer apps or digital payments alone, but by deep operational solutions that form the engine room of trade.
The report noted that the future of African commerce will be won by founders who solve for depth, not just reach, and Nigeria, with its scale, entrepreneurial energy, and emerging policy reforms, is at the heart of that transformation.”
Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria’s minister of industry, trade, and investment, commenting in the report, highlighted the country’s strategic pivot from a tariff-driven economy to an investment-led growth model anchored in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“We are replacing short-term revenue from customs duties with long-term, sustainable wealth driven by productive investment,” Oduwole said. “Nigeria is positioning to become Africa’s innovation, production, and distribution capital.”
The report noted that the next wave of billion-dollar companies will not emerge from consumer-facing marketplaces but from Nigerian founders solving the hard, hidden problems of trade.
