5 Popular Mobile Apps Created By Nigerians

The tech space in Nigeria used to be dominated by foreign owned websites and applications, but Nigerians are gradually creating apps that are proving to be reliable options for citizens.

From Fintech (financial technology) startups, to online shopping platforms and to logistics applications, Nigerian owned platforms are gradually making a name for themselves in the tech world.

Here are some of the popular applications created by Nigerians:

1. CowryWise

CowryWise is a savings and investment platform developed with the intention of equipping individuals with the needed tools to make personal financial management a lifestyle. The app was built to make periodic savings and investments easy for the everyday Nigerian as well as enable savings, investments and net worth.

It was cofounded by Razaq Ahmed and Edward Popoola in 2017, who hold the positions of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), respectively.

 As at the last time it received funding from a foreign investor, which was in January 2021, CowryWise got a seed of $3 million.

It is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

 2. Flutterwave

Flutterwave is a financial technology company that provides payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across Africa.

According to its LinkedIn profile, the company is on a mission to build payments infrastructure to connect Africa to the global economy by building technology, tools and infrastructure for businesses and banks who want to provide a more seamless and secure payments experience for their customers.

It was established by Olugbenga Agboola and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji in 2016 and has its headquarters in San Francisco, California while it has operations in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africs, Kenya and seven other African countries.

After securing a funding of $170 million in March 2021, Flutterwave’s value rose to over $1 billion.

3. PiggyVest

Formerly known as PiggyBank, this app is a savings and investment platform. It was first launched in January 2016 as a savings only platform before it was rebranded to PiggyVest in 2019 and began offering direct investment opportunities to its users as well.

The app was co-founded by Odunayo Eweniyi, Somto Ifezue and Joshua Chibueze, who first met at Covenant University, Nigeria. The trio had worked together for about 8 years on other startups which were not as successful prior to starting PiggyVest together.

PiggyVest currently has over 2 million customers saving more than $250,000 with it.

4. PayStack

PayStack is an online payment platform that was created to enable merchants in Nigeria and Ghana to get paid by anyone and anywhere in the world. It provides a quick way for users to integrate payment services into an online or offline transaction by way of an Application Programming Interface (API).

It was founded in 2015 by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, software developers and longtime friends. It boasts more than 60,000 organizations of all sizes which use its service. They include AirPeace, Domino’s, Bolt, Betway, and MTN. It currently processes over 50% of all web payments in Nigeria.

Paystack has made a name for itself among Nigerians and indeed Africa as a whole as an app aimed at solving payment problems for enterprising businesses.

In October 2018, Paystack announced that it had processed N10 billion in transactions in a single month.

Later on, in October 2020 the app was purchased by Stripe, an Irish-American financial services and software as a service (SaaS) company, for over $200 million.

5. Konga

Konga is arguably the biggest e-commerce and retail company in Africa. It was founded in July 2012   by Sim Shagaya from Plateau State, with 20 staff and funding from a Swedish investment firm with its headquarters in Gbagada, Lagos.

Konga originally only functioned in Lagos, focusing on retailing products in the Baby, Beauty and Personal Care categories, but later broadened its scope to all states in the country and gradually expanded its product categories through 2012 and 2013. Today, its product categories include phones, computers, clothing, shoes, home appliances, books, healthcare, baby products, personal care and many more.

It was originally launched as a website only but in July 2013, the Konga mobile app was launched to its users.

By the end of 2014, Konga had 8,000 merchants/sellers featured on the platform and was valued at about $200 million.

Konga has grown exponentially over the years to offer other services beyond just third-party sales. One of those services include KongaPay, which is a payment option that works for customers within Konga’s platform, thereby eliminating the need for customers to input sensitive information such as bank details thus protecting them from falling victims to online fraud.

Other services Konga offers are Konga Express, which facilitates express delivery of orders to customers, and Konga Self-Fulfill Model, which allows sellers on Konga to have total control of the sale from the point of order till the customers receive the product.

In February 2018, Konga was acquired by the Zinox Group, a Nigerian ICT company with its own line of computers which has pioneered in many aspects of technology and innovation in Nigeria.