How Opeyemi Obembe is building a sustainable path in a hype-driven ecosystem
Oftentimes, in the tech world, it is the founders who build in public that are rewarded. It is easy to get swept up in the hype of building visibly and fast, neglecting the fundamentals. For Opeyemi Obembe, this trend makes him hold fast to his personal philosophy of building for the long term. In the early 2000s, before YouTube tutorials and abundant online courses, a young Opeyemi Obembe’s access to a computer was measured in paid-for time slots at a cyber café. He didn’t own a laptop. His learning resources were scattered across the early Internet and downloaded onto floppy disks. When he was away from a screen, he would painstakingly write out code on paper, close his eyes, and imagine how the lines of text would render in a browser. This foundational scarcity is the very thing he sees missing in an ecosystem now flooded with venture capital and pressure for rapid, often unsustainable, growth. “A lot has really changed in technology,” Obembe recalls. “These days, you have fancy editors with beautiful colours, syntax highlighting, and all of that. In those days, there was no clear guide.” Today, Obembe is the co-founder of Engage, a marketing automation tool he launched in 2021 with Victor Eduoh, that allows businesses to understand and build relationships with their customers. After more than a decade building in the Nigerian tech ecosystem, Obembe’s journey is illustrative of an atypical founders’ journey, one that eschews rapid hype cycles and “clout chasing” to champion a more sustainable entrepreneurial path. From “coding as an art” to the business of building Obembe’s career has been a long transition from pure creation to the multifaceted role of a founder. For years, he was “the guy behind the scenes,” co-founding a project management tool and a telephony startup, Callbase. But with Engage, a product he had always wanted to build, he had to step into the spotlight. “The transition was a lot,” he confesses. Being a founder meant managing relationships, hiring, fundraising, and communicating with customers, a world away from the solitary focus of writing code. “I need to always constantly remind myself that hey, I’m not just a developer, I’m a founder first, then a developer second.” Yet, the artisan has not been lost in the executive. His technical background remains the bedrock of Engage, a product that helps tech companies communicate more effectively with their customers. “My role, interestingly, even though I’m the CEO, is behind the scenes; so I’m also still more like a CTO,” he explains. This allows him to guide the technology roadmap and ensure the product is built on a robust, scalable architecture. 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This focus leads him to a conclusion that many technical founders are reluctant to voice: marketing is paramount. “I’m
Read MoreAntler’s new Lagos cohort features TC Battlefield startups
Antler, a global investment network that focuses on early-stage investments, officially kicked off its latest Lagos cohort on October 20. Among the entrants are three startups from the highly competitive TC Battlefield competition— Ulé Homes, Polaroid, and Lexlytic — which earned direct entry into the program after standing out at this year’s pitch event. Ulé Homes, the winner of TC Battlefield 2025, offers rent financing to Nigerians; Polaroid is a startup that allows filmmakers to set up premium video-on-demand channels to distribute and monetise their films to viewers independently, and Lexlytic is developing an AI-powered regulatory compliance platform. The partnership reflects a natural alignment between two ecosystem forces: TC Battlefield identifies Africa’s most promising founders at the idea or product stage, while Antler provides the network and funding that helps them turn those ideas into scalable businesses. Founders in Antler’s Lagos program gain access to over $400,000 in partner credits, mentorship, and other perks from day one. Over the eight-week, in-person program, participants refine their business models, form teams through co-founder matching, and test for product–market fit. The highest-performing startups can secure up to $100,000 in pre-seed funding from Antler. “Antler in Africa is designed for builders with real spikes — people who know their domain, move fast, and are ready to start now,” said Lola Masha, a partner at Antler. Founders do not need a co-founder or a finished product to apply for the program. What matters is their depth of insight and capacity to execute those insights. By the fourth week of the program, those without teams are matched based on complementary strengths and chemistry through co-founder matching. Over the 56-day course of the program, teams sharpen their models and test for product-market fit. “We back teams that show deep insight, grit, speed to execute, and commercial clarity, the ones already turning signal into traction,” Anil Atmaramani, another partner at Antler, said. Antler’s first Nigerian cohort saw over 7,500 applications, with only 24, less than 1%, making the final cut to develop solutions in the fintech, education, food security, and industrial tech sectors. Some of Antler’s portfolio companies from its inaugural Lagos cohort include Cubbes, an edtech platform, Forti Foods, an agritech startup, and Raba, a fintech solution provider.
Read MoreNigeria moves to create single powerful regulator for fintechs with proposed bill
Nigeria’s House of Representatives, the 360-member lower chamber of the National Assembly, is considering a bill sponsored by Hon. Fuad Kayode Laguda, a Lagos State representative, to establish the Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission (NFRC), a single authority that would licence and regulate all fintechs in the country. The commission’s powers imply that it will replace the current patchwork of oversight by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), creating a single gateway for authorisation and compliance. Nigerian fintechs have long lobbied for a single regulator instead of dealing with multiple agencies whose overlapping mandates and conflicting directives often create confusion. According to a draft of the bill seen by TechCabal, fintechs must now obtain individual or class licences depending on their activities (payments, lending, crypto, crowdfunding, or regtech), and non-compliance with licencing or renewal provisions could lead to revocation, suspension, or heavy fines. The bill also creates more structured but heavier compliance burdens, like a dedicated compliance team and legal counsel, continuous technology compliance audits, and demonstrating Nigerian participation in ownership and management. The NFRC will not only issue regulations and guidelines but also set performance standards, dispute resolution processes, data use standards, consumer protection codes, and service quality benchmarks, removing ambiguity in fintech operations. The bill empowers the NFRC to conduct public and private enquiries, compel information disclosure, and publish compliance findings. Given these new standards, early-stage startups may need legal and compliance budgets from inception, while established firms must align current practices with the new NFRC framework. To protect customers, the NFRC has the power to monitor and prevent anti-competitive practices, such as predatory pricing, collusion, or abuse of market dominance. Nigerian digital loan apps are infamous for aggressive loan recovery tactics, and with the bill, much-needed respite for customers might be introduced. The commission can also enforce interconnection and interoperability, a potential boost for open banking, ensuring smaller fintechs gain access to critical payment and data infrastructure. Its dispute resolution powers will allow it to mediate between fintechs, banks, and telecom operators, positioning it as the first line of arbitration for the sector. The NFRC can enforce local research and development and Nigerian participation in ownership and management for fintechs. It can also approve or reject foreign operators’ participation based on fairness and reciprocity principles. For foreign-backed fintechs, this means they will need to restructure boards or management to meet local participation thresholds.
Read MoreMore Nigerians are investing in crypto; is the regulator right to be concerned about investor protection?
Nigeria’s crypto market, once dominated by speculation and short-term trading, has evolved into an ecosystem of small-scale savers and long-term investors. Fewer Nigerians are speculating on digital assets, and millions of them are investing and using them to preserve value in an economy where inflation routinely erodes savings. This is according to “The State of Crypto Adoption in Nigeria 2025” report by Quidax, a Nigerian crypto startup, and IFS Insights, a global research firm. The report, based on a survey of 1,850 respondents and proprietary data from Quidax, records that 26.3 million Nigerians now hold or use cryptocurrencies, transacting $57.1 billion between July 2024 and June 2025. About two-third (67%) of these crypto users identify as savers or investors, with more than half of this group primarily motivated to hold digital assets for profit. A further 18.4% are pragmatic users, while only 14.4% actively speculate or trade crypto. 43% of Nigerian crypto users are students, 85% earn less than ₦250,000 ($171) per month, and the median monthly gain from crypto investment is just $103, according to the report. Fewer than 3% make over $500 in monthly gains. The numbers underscore a market driven less by speculation than by necessity: Nigerians are turning to crypto to protect their savings from inflation, currency swings, and banking fees. “My use of crypto has evolved from being just about making money to saving, beating inflation, and investing,” one respondent said in the report. This shows that Nigerians dominantly buy digital assets to make gains and use them as savings and payment tools, rather than to speculate on the markets. It creates a difficult problem for regulators, who have classified crypto as securities and applied capital-market-style rules—yet to align with nuanced use cases—requiring operators to disclose asset reserves, conduct routine audits, and maintain a minimum paid-up capital of ₦1 billion ($700,000), according to the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s proposal. As more Nigerians use crypto to save and invest, it could influence how regulators prioritise enforcement and policy within the digital assets space, particularly around investor protection standards and market access. 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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) later updated its guidelines allowing banks to engage with licenced Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), reversing the 2021 banking ban. The aim was harmonisation, not restriction: regulators sought to provide clarity while enabling market growth. Yet the legal framework is structured for capital markets, not everyday savers. SEC rules emphasise registration, disclosure, and custody audits, while the CBN’s guidance focuses on safe integration with the banking system. Yet, at the centre of the debate is the ₦1 billion ($1.2 million) capital requirement imposed on VASPs, a threshold initially framed as a consumer protection measure but now widely viewed as a structural barrier. The SEC’s approach treats crypto operators as securities-market participants, holding them to the same standards as brokers and fund managers under the Investment and Securities Act. While the rule was designed to promote stability and safeguard investor funds, it will price many smaller crypto exchanges out of the market. The survey data from Quidax and IFS show the tension. Over 40% of Nigerian crypto users feel regulation is
Read MoreZambia’s Duniya Healthcare says its distribution model helped avert 578 rural deaths
Duniya Healthcare, a Zambia-based pharmaceutical and health logistics startup, says it helped rural health facilities avert 578 deaths in six months, nearly double the 299 deaths prevented at comparable facilities that relied on traditional procurement systems, according to a new impact report. The study, conducted by Duniya Healthcare in partnership with the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) and the Africa Health and Economic Transformation Institute (AHETI), provides quantitative evidence linking stronger medicine supply chains to lower mortality in rural areas. It tracked 16 Catholic mission hospitals and rural health centers across Zambia between January and June 2025. Eight facilities used Duniya’s Rural Distribution Model (RDM) while eight others served as control sites. The report comes amid long-running concerns over Zambia’s fragile medical supply chain, where frequent stockouts and delayed deliveries continue to undermine rural healthcare. Despite government efforts to stabilise supply, most public and faith-based facilities still rely on inconsistent deliveries from central warehouses or ad hoc procurement through private wholesalers. The Duniya study provides rare quantitative evidence that improving distribution efficiency can significantly cut preventable deaths in remote areas. To measure deaths averted, researchers adopted a comparative quasi-experimental design, tracking eight facilities using Duniya’s Rural Distribution Model against eight control facilities using traditional procurement systems. Both groups operated from January to June 2025. Researchers collected and analysed the data in July-August 2025, applying condition-specific case fatality rates, drawn from national and peer-reviewed data, to patient treatment records for eight high-burden diseases, including malaria, pneumonia, hypertension, and severe anemia. This approach enabled direct comparison of mortality outcomes between facilities with and without strengthened supply chains. Pilot facilities recorded the strongest impact in reducing deaths from malaria, pneumonia, and hypertension. Across the pilot sites, 311 malaria deaths were averted, along with 167 from pneumonia and 67 from hypertension complications. In comparison, control sites averted 56, 87, and 153 deaths, respectively. The report attributes the mortality difference primarily to medicine availability. Facilities supported by Duniya achieved 88% availability of essential medicines, compared to 71 percent at control sites, a 17-point gap that often determined whether patients received treatment or were turned away. The analysis also showed that only 38% of Duniya-supported facilities reported turning patients away due to stockouts, compared to 67% among control facilities. For diseases with high fatality rates, that difference can mean survival or death. “The preferential option for the poor is our sacred mandate,” said Bishop Evans Chinyemba, who oversees health for ZCCB. “Through this partnership, we are putting our faith into action, ensuring that even those in the furthest villages receive the medicines they need to live.” Speed was another critical factor. 88% of orders at pilot facilities arrived within seven days, compared to 63% at control sites, some of which waited over two weeks for delivery. Duniya’s model aggregates demand from multiple rural facilities into bulk orders large enough to attract competitive bids from wholesalers in Lusaka. The platform then breaks down bulk shipments and delivers individual consignments directly to each facility at no transport cost. “It’s the same network strategy that brought telecoms to rural Africa,” said Duniya CEO Mwansa Chalo in an earlier TechCabal interview. “You make scattered demand visible and economically viable.” The approach also freed up facility budgets. Only 19% of pilot facilities delayed procurement due to cost constraints, compared to 41% of control facilities. All pilot sites followed predictable monthly ordering schedules, while a quarter of control sites ordered reactively after shelves were empty. About 75% of pilot facilities used electronic inventory systems, reducing forecasting errors and medicine wastage, a 12-point improvement over control sites. Still, the report found gaps. When stockouts did occur in pilot facilities, some lasted up to 30 days, suggesting exposure to funding or supplier delays. Affordability also remained inconsistent, with 62% of all facilities, both pilot and control, saying medicines were only “sometimes affordable.” Control facilities cited delayed government grants, incomplete deliveries from the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA), and high transport costs that forced tradeoffs between buying medicines and covering delivery expenses. Some pilot sites also reported challenges with emergency orders, where the standard aggregation process proved too slow for urgent needs. To address these weaknesses, Duniya plans to establish emergency buffer stocks, secure additional supplier contracts, and simplify payment processes so that facilities can pay Duniya directly. The company also intends to integrate more closely with ZAMMSA to complement, rather than compete with, national systems and ensure universal adoption of electronic inventory management tools across all supported sites. With a five-year contract from ZCCB already secured, Duniya is set to expand its model to more Catholic mission facilities across Zambia. The Catholic Church operates over 75 mission health facilities, the country’s largest faith-based health network. At current performance levels, the report estimates that nationwide deployment could avert more than 10,000 deaths annually. ZCCB has also expressed interest in replicating the model in Kenya and Uganda, where Duniya plans to launch in early 2026. “The 578 lives saved are not just numbers,” Chalo said at the launch event held on October 20 in Lusaka. “They represent mothers, children, and families given a second chance. This partnership proves that when innovation meets compassion, even the most remote communities can access life-saving care.” In July 2025, Chalo told TechCabal that his goal is to make Duniya the largest pharmaceutical distribution network in Africa. The company’s latest results suggest that ambition may not be far-fetched.
Read MoreStanbic’s Zest turns profitable with ₦543 million Q3 gain
Zest, the fintech subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, has reported its first profitable quarter since its 2023 launch. The turnaround reflects the growing maturity of bank-backed fintech subsidiaries as they move from early losses to sustainable growth. Zest posted a profit after tax of ₦543 million ($372,438) in the third quarter of 2025, compared to a ₦1.89 billion ($1.29 million) loss after tax in the same period of 2024, according to Stanbic IBTC’s financial statement for the period ended September 30, 2025. The fintech’s performance came despite higher operating costs, which rose to ₦2.12 billion ($1.45 million) in Q3 2025, up from ₦1.26 billion ($864,221) in the first half of the year. In H1 2025, Zest recorded a loss after tax of ₦389 million ($266,811), down 58.8% from ₦945 million ($648,165) a year earlier. This was despite a fourteenfold revenue growth to ₦874 million ($599,467) in H1 2025 from ₦61 million ($41,839) in the same period of 2024. Zest’s Road to Profitability Hover over each bar to see the story behind the number. Q3 2024 -₦1.89B H1 2025 -₦389M +₦543M Q3 2025 Zest’s financials show a significant shift over the last 12 months. Source: Stanbic IBTC H1 2025 & Q3 2025 financial statements. However, expenses climbed almost 24.95% to ₦1.26 billion ($864,221). At the time, insiders at the fintech disclosed to TechCabal that Zest had achieved month-on-month profitability. Zest is part of a wave of bank-owned fintechs—like Access’s Hydrogen and GTCO’s HabariPay—that emerged after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s 2010 directive required commercial banks to restructure into holding companies to offer non-banking services like payments. It makes money by enabling transfers and offering a single dashboard that integrates cards, bank transfers, mobile money, and QR codes for businesses. Hydrogen and HabariPay found their feet early. Hydrogen’s after-tax profit hit ₦966 million ($662,569) in H1 2025, and HabariPay’s profit at ₦4.02 billion ($2.76 million) in H1 2025, and Zest has joined this group with its first-ever profitable quarter. This improvement follows sustained capital injections from its parent group, which increased its investment in Zest to ₦4.33 billion ($2.97 million) by June 2025 — an 85.8% rise from December 2024. That funding helped the fintech strengthen its infrastructure and expand its payments network, setting the stage for profitability. Note: exchange rate used: ₦1,457.96/$
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This Dubai-based digital nomad wants more Africans to travel for depth, not for show
Travelling as a digital nomad can be expensive. Yet it costs more when you are privileged to travel and not take advantage of the opportunity, a Dubai-based digital nomad told me over a weekend chat in September. “There is a lot more to see in the world when you let go of [proclivities] you are already used to,” he said. “When people travel, it’s for the show and glam; but when you travel to experience the really random things, that’s where the experience is.” *Ayodeji is a Nigerian senior software engineer at Miro, the Netherlands-based startup behind the popular online whiteboarding platform, who, this year, decided he wanted to be a digital nomad for the rest of his life. Get the best African tech newsletters in your inbox Country Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canton and Enderbury Islands Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos [Keeling] Islands Colombia Comoros Congo – Brazzaville Congo – Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dronning Maud Land East Germany Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories French Southern and Antarctic Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Johnston Island Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR China Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Metropolitan France Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar [Burma] Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Neutral Zone New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Vietnam Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pacific Islands Trust Territory Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Panama Canal Zone Papua New Guinea Paraguay People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria São Tomé and Príncipe Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Miscellaneous Pacific Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Uganda Ukraine Union of Soviet Socialist Republics United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown or Invalid Region Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands ?> Gender Male Female Others TC Daily Events TC Scoop <!– Next Wave –> <!– Entering Tech –> Subscribe An eye for a better quality of life Ayodeji began building a foundation in tech from a young age. An avid gamer, he started programming in 2013 in his teens, hoping to build video games someday. By 2016, he was working remotely for US companies. He began his backend development career with US-based Oktium, a video calling app, before brief stints at Qwertee, an e-commerce platform, and Eze, a YC-backed B2B IT gadget procurement platform. In 2019, he joined a tech fellowship with Andela, the Nigerian unicorn, which he said “marked the beginning of his career.” “[Before Andela], I’d worked remotely all my life, so [Andela] taught me a lot about soft skills to thrive in the workplace,” said Ayodeji. “It was a 6-month programme where, as a team, we worked on a real project. That simulation really helped to launch my career, as I identified technical skills I needed to improve.” Ayodeji always had one goal: to work with global companies, and to do that, he knew he had to cut his teeth learning how to stay dynamically relevant in tech, and importantly, improving his leadership skills. “I’ve wanted to travel for a pretty long time,” said Ayodeji. “I wanted to move to places where I could avoid thinking about the basic things like electricity and internet; my fastest route to doing that was stacking up money.” After his Andela training, he resumed targeting foreign jobs; he joined Homevision, an ops tool for appraisers. In 2021, he led the tech team at Butter, a Copenhagen-based remote-first virtual collaboration platform that was acquired by Miro four years later. That role changed everything for him. A freelance visa and a way out Now based in Dubai, Ayodeji first travelled out of Nigeria in 2021 on the freelance visa, which allows professionals to live and work in the UAE without employer sponsorship. The visa is usually tied to a freelance permit from one of Dubai’s free zones, such as Dubai Internet City or Dubai Media City, and is open to professionals in fields like tech, media, design, and education. It gives holders the right to live in the country, open a bank account, and take on projects from multiple clients. In 2025, it remains one of the most popular options for remote workers, though new applications are temporarily paused while the UAE reviews its residency system. At the time, the freelance visa cost Ayodeji about $3,000 (excluding flight), and the process used to be a lot easier, according to him. But today, income benchmarks—about AED 15,000 ($4,000) per month for the green visa—and tightened travel restrictions have
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The anti-loan shark: How Hadi Finance is rebranding SME lending
Nigeria’s informal economy accounts for an estimated 58% of its GDP; however, businesses within the informal sector face challenges when it comes to accessing credit. Hadi Finance began with a simple goal: to be a bank for Nigeria’s informal small businesses. But its co-founder, Bidemi Adebayo, quickly learned that in a market where the word “loan” is synonymous with shame and destruction of livelihood, she wasn’t just selling credit. She was fighting a deep-seated stigma. Day 1: The pivot from products to capital Hadi Finance did not start as a lending company. Launched in 2022, its first incarnation was as a retail distributor. They operated a warehouse in Abuja, serving over a thousand customers and moving over $100,000 monthly in stock. Their theory was that a hub-based model bringing warehouses closer to markets would win. They were wrong. The brutal lesson came from the market’s extreme price sensitivity. “You are selling for like ₦3,000 and another guy is bringing it for ₦2,950,” Adebayo explains. Retailers would choose to take a cab to a cheaper supplier rather than accept the convenience of delivery for a higher price. “Nothing prepares you for it,” she says. Those first few months revealed the real problem wasn’t access to goods but access to cash flow. “We discovered that the main issue among retailers is how to access goods and credit to keep turning over as fast as possible.” They had stumbled from selling products to solving for capital, setting them on a new, far more complex path. The Hadi Finance team at an outreach. Source: Bidemi Adebayo Day 500: Battling distrust with the ‘human touch’ The pivot to lending thrust Hadi Finance into what Adebayo calls the “nightmare” of building a startup in Nigeria. The core challenge was no longer logistics, but trust. “There is a stigma to [being] a loan company in the market,” she says. Borrowers feared embarrassment, being locked up, or having their families called. “They feel that you’re a loan shark, they feel that ‘if I collect this money, it can destroy my business’” This deep-seated distrust meant Hadi Finance couldn’t rely on technology alone. The solution was the “human touch”. Their very first customer was Adebayo’s own mother, a retailer, who became their announcer among her network of fellow retailers. They reframed their approach into what Adebayo calls “a catalyst for growth.” This wasn’t just a marketing slogan; it dictated their entire operating model. “We want to have a human touch in all our processes. When a customer applies for a loan, field agents are dispatched within 12 hours. We are visiting your business, we’re looking at what’s the right financing for you.” This high-touch approach builds familiarity, a key ingredient for trust. This philosophy extends to when things go wrong. Unlike traditional lenders, their first response to a default isn’t intimidation. “We have our support agents visiting you and saying, ‘What is going on?’” Adebayo says. If a retailer is struggling to sell a commodity, Hadi’s team will try to help them find a better-priced supplier. “We are not here to cause chaos in your business.” This human-centered approach allows more businesses to trust them. Hadi Finance promises a 48-hour disbursement timeline for loan requests. To achieve this, the team built a frugal, speed-focused verification system that balances security with the retailer’s need for urgency. Field agents are assigned in clusters, and when a business within a specific cluster requests a loan, the field agents are dispatched to the business to verify its authenticity. This approach, giving fast loans and supporting SMEs after lending, has meant that many of Hadi Finance’s new customers are referrals. 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Read MoreNigeria’s EyeGuide uses LiDAR to help blind people navigate independently
In Lagos, where uneven sidewalks and chaotic traffic turn every commute into an obstacle course, getting around can test anyone’s will. For the roughly seven million Nigerians who are blind or visually impaired, it’s a daily fight against an environment that rarely considers them, and available assistive tools are either too costly or not built for their realities. For Charles Ayere, a Lagos-based developer who has watched a close friend of 12 years struggle to move independently, this reality hit home. Her frustration pushed him to build EyeGuide, a navigation app that uses the LiDAR sensor on iPhones to help blind users detect obstacles, sense human presence, and walk with more confidence. How EyeGuide was built Ayere did not set out to become a tech innovator. A Sociology graduate from Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), he stumbled into technology out of curiosity and began experimenting with projects in his final year. After graduating in 2018, he started his tech career and now works as CTO at an AI digital marketing platform and as a lead web developer for a fintech startup called Sofri in Lagos. The idea for EyeGuide came in early 2024, when he started exploring how existing technology could improve accessibility for the blind. Inspired by the sensors in cars that detect nearby objects, he asked himself: if cars can sense obstacles, why can’t blind people use something similar? After researching online, he discovered LiDAR, short for Light Detection and Ranging, and realised it could be the foundation for a more dependable, locally built navigation tool. When Ayere began building EyeGuide, his first prototypes used the iPhone’s dual or triple cameras through stereoscopic lens technology. But the results were inconsistent. “The camera-based system wasn’t reliable,” he said. “Sometimes it mistook a picture frame for a person or failed to detect glass doors. There were a lot of incorrect measurements.” Reliability, he learned, was non-negotiable. That was when he switched to LiDAR. Unlike cameras, LiDAR does not capture visual images. It emits tiny laser pulses that bounce off nearby objects and measure how long each pulse takes to return, creating a 3D map of the surroundings even in total darkness. The LiDAR sensor is built into iPhone Pro models like the iPhone 12 Pro as well as iPad Pro 2020 and later. EyeGuide processes everything locally on the device, keeping user data private and unrecorded. When users open the app, it scans their surroundings and gives voice prompts such as “turn left,” “turn right,” or “collision detected,” along with vibrations that intensify as obstacles get closer. It identifies objects and tells users how close they are in meters. The app can even detect human presence, helping users know when someone is nearby. Users can start or stop the app using the iPhone’s volume buttons, and it automatically pauses scanning when the phone is idle. Building with the blind, not for them From the beginning, Ayere knew he could not build EyeGuide alone. He worked closely with members of the blind community in Yaba, testing prototypes and adjusting everything from vibration strength to audio feedback based on their real-world experience. Their feedback, he said, continues to shape how the app works. In Lagos, Abiodun Joseph tried EyeGuide on his iPhone and said, “It was really fun trying it out. The vibration and alerts are good, but I think they shouldn’t be that intense.” He tested it by walking along his street and deliberately approaching walls and gutters. “It kept beeping and telling me I was close to an obstacle,” he said. Still, he was cautious about how it might behave in busier areas. “On a crowded road, the app might pick up too many things at once. If it can be made less reactive, that would help.” Ayere addressed differing preferences by making sensitivity settings adjustable. Users can fine-tune how close they want to be before the app issues warnings. “I’m always paying attention to feedback,” he said. “It’s a continuous process.” Expanding the vision Right now, EyeGuide works only on iOS, but Ayere plans to expand beyond Apple devices. He is currently refining the app’s features and testing prototypes of smart glasses that connect to EyeGuide via Bluetooth. The glasses use ultrasonic sensors, which are cheaper and more energy-efficient than LiDAR, to make the technology accessible to Android users while allowing them to keep their phones in their pockets. Bringing LiDAR directly to Android phones is not feasible, Ayere explained. Android devices vary widely in hardware, and integrating LiDAR sensors into glasses would drive costs too high. That is why he is focusing on ultrasonic sensors for the hardware. “If you are building for the masses, it has to be affordable,” he said. “That is why I am exploring small, efficient sensors that do not cost much.” That focus on cost reflects the reality of Nigeria’s assistive technology market, where prices leave many persons no option but to rely on manual alternatives. A WeWALK Smart Cane sells for around ₦752,000 in Nigeria, and even simpler imported versions cost about ₦90,000, well beyond the reach of most people. With a national minimum wage of ₦70,000 (about $48), that’s more than two months’ salary for the average worker. There are also no government subsidies for assistive products, leaving individuals to bear the cost. A mission beyond profit EyeGuide is currently free and will stay that way. “I do not want people paying for something that should be as available as water,” Ayere said. “Accessibility should not be a privilege.” The upcoming smart glasses will come at a cost, just enough to cover production. “They won’t be free, given the tech and manufacturing costs, but for me, it’s still a way to give back.” Users have requested features such as real-time currency detection and live location sharing so loved ones can track their movements. These are among the next upgrades he is exploring. He is also considering integrating AI tools to improve object detection, though that would require internet access, which he
Read MoreStartups On Our Radar: TC Battlefield edition
Startups On Our Radar spotlights African startups solving African challenges with innovation. In our previous edition, we featured seven game-changing startups pioneering payments, artificial intelligence, commerce, and mobility. Expect the next dispatch on October 10, 2025. In this week’s edition, we’re spotlighting the trailblazing startups that competed in the final round of TechCabal Battlefield at Moonshot 2025. Let’s dive into what made them stand out. Ulé Homes wants to loan you your rent (PropertyTech, Nigeria) In some parts of Nigeria, the dream of securing a home is often blocked by the demand for one or two years’ rent in advance. This practice may force people to deplete their savings or take on high-interest debt just to find a place to live. Founded by Omolade Akinwumi, Azeez Abdulyekeen, and Chisom Okorie, Ulé Homes is a financing company designed to make housing more affordable and flexible by breaking lump-sum rent payments into manageable monthly installments. Initially operating with a Google Form and an MVP website, the company is now developing a full-feature web app to automate and scale its processes. Applicants undergo a rigorous KYC (Know Your Customer) process where Ulé Homes assesses their financial viability by analysing bank statements and checking credit scores from Nigeria’s three main credit bureaus (CRC Credit Bureau, FirstCentral Credit Bureau, and CreditRegistry Nigeria) to get a complete picture of a person’s credit worthiness. Once approved, Ulé Homes pays the full rent amount directly to the landlord, a deliberate step to ensure the funds are used solely for housing. Before the funds are disbursed, the user authorises a direct debit mandate on their salary account, facilitated through integrations with fintech partners like Mono and Paystack. This system automatically deducts monthly repayments on a pre-agreed date, which is typically aligned with when the user receives their salary. These monthly payments are capped at no more than 30% of the borrower’s income. Ulé Homes generates revenue through a one-time 2.5% facilitation fee and a monthly interest rate. Ulé Homes has seven financial partners, including traditional banks and neobanks, and this has enabled the company to successfully lower its initial interest rates from 2.9% to as low as 1.7% per month. Why we’re watching: Ulé Homes differentiates itself by looking beyond the immediate problem of rent. Its most ambitious offering is a mortgage product, launched in August 2025, which allows customers to purchase homes with a payment plan at an annual interest rate of 9.75%. This product turns their monthly payments into an investment in their own property. Recognising that many Nigerians lack a formal credit history, Ulé Homes is developing a system where consistent and early repayments of rent financing through its platform will contribute positively to a user’s credit score. The startup is also pursuing a unique B2B2C strategy by partnering with corporations to offer its services as an employee benefit, tackling housing affordability at an organisational level. Since launching disbursements in August of last year, Ulé Homes has provided over ₦700 million ($479,455) in rent financing to more than 150 customers. The ultimate validation of its model came recently when Ulé Homes emerged as the winner of the highly competitive TechCabal Battlefield competition at Moonshot 2025. ResQ-X wants to be the all-in-one solution for drivers in Nigeria (Mobility, Nigeria) Founded by Nosa Okoroji, ResQ-X is a platform that combines on-demand fuel delivery, 24/7 roadside assistance, and fleet management into a single service. The startup aims to reduce downtime and safety concerns that drivers face when their cars break down. . Users can request help through a mobile app or hotline, select the service they are in need of, input their location, receive an instant and transparent price quote before help arrives, and track the live location of the dispatched responder. ResQ-X claims to have an average rescue time of 25 minutes from request to service completion. The startup operates on a diversified business model, generating revenue through margins on fuel delivery (₦80-₦120 [$0.055-$0.082] per litre), subscription plans ranging from $58 to $150 annually, pay-per-use services for non-subscribers who require rescue services, business to business (B2B) fleet management services, including API integration, and a 20% commission from towing partners. The company is currently operating exclusively in Lagos, with a network of 175 verified responders, and has rescued 752 people since its launch. ResQ-X says it has a monthly recurring revenue of $5,200. Why we’re watching: ResQ-X is carving out a unique space in the market by bundling services that are typically fragmented. While its direct competitors include traditional filling stations for fuel and a scattered network of independent mechanics for repairs, it stands out with its integrated, tech-enabled approach. ResQ-X offers a layer of trust and safety through features like live tracking and OTP verification. The startup plans to create a full-fledged auto marketplace, forge insurance partnerships for accident response, and build out EV charging infrastructure. It has forged partnerships with Dangote Refinery, Porsche Nigeria, Kia Nigeria, Fez Delivery, and Qoray Mobility. ResQ-X is currently raising a $1.5 million funding round to scale across Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt by 2026. Sporous Energy wants to refine how Africa consumes energy (Energy, Nigeria) Sporous Energy delivers reliable and affordable power through AI-enabled solar-powered community mini-grids. Co-founded by Oluwasomidotun Amujo and Omozue Gregory, the startup operates shared solar systems for residential estates and commercial clusters to solve the challenge of unreliable electricity. Customers pay for the electricity they consume on a pay-as-you-go basis (₦220 [$0.15] per unit) using smart meters integrated with Sporous’s AI-driven platform. This platform intelligently manages power by predicting usage, tracking consumption patterns, collecting community data to optimise distribution and demand, and predicting when energy credit will run out. Its AI-powered management platform has features that standalone solar installers cannot match. This allows the startup to compete head-on with the most common backup for energy in Nigeria: generators. Sporous Energy eliminates the hassle of getting fuel and maintaining generators. Why we’re watching: Sporous Energy stands out because it is offering a full-stack solution that directly addresses
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