African Tech Journal

Tag: payment

  • How a University-Era Bookkeeping Business Became TELA, a Business Intelligence Platform for SMEs

    How a University-Era Bookkeeping Business Became TELA, a Business Intelligence Platform for SMEs

    For many small business owners, running a business means juggling sales, payments, invoices, customers, expenses and a long list of daily tasks, often without having a clear picture of what the numbers actually mean.

    This was the problem that led to Tela, a business intelligence platform designed to help small businesses and freelancers not only digitise their operations, but understand what is happening inside their businesses.

    Tela’s journey, however, did not start as a technology company.

    From managing books to building a platform

    Tela’s story began in 2021 when its founder, Adeyemo Damilare, started Rux Finance after graduating from university as a finance graduate. The business helped small businesses manage their finances, organise their books and make sense of their financial activities.

    As the business grew, so did the workload.

    What initially could be managed with manual processes eventually became too much to handle with what the team described as “pen and paper.” That experience became the starting point for a bigger question: what if these processes could be turned into a product?

    Damilare Adeyemo brought in James Dauda , Aaron Daudu and Jumoke Ajayi, who he had known for about 10 years, and together they began working on the idea at a larger scale.

    What emerged was Tela, evolving from a financial management solution into a business intelligence platform for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

    “We went a step further. Not just digitalizing their product or digitalizing their business, but also making it make sense,” the team explained during an interview with African Tech Journal.

    Building around how entrepreneurs actually work

    One of Tela’s early challenges was not necessarily figuring out what features to build, but deciding what should not be built.

    For the team, small businesses already operate within established habits. Many entrepreneurs rely heavily on WhatsApp, conversational selling and other familiar platforms to manage their businesses.

    The challenge was therefore to introduce technology without forcing entrepreneurs to completely change the way they work.

    “It’s easy to build a product with too many features,” the team said. The harder task was figuring out what an entrepreneur actually needs to see, what should be automated, what should be explained and what should be left untouched.

    This led the team to spend time speaking with customers, vendors and other business owners, while conducting market research to understand their behaviours and expectations.

    That approach has continued to shape Tela’s product.

    Moving beyond digitalisation with AI

    Tela initially operated as a web-based product, offering tools such as invoicing, receipts and payment links. The company has since shifted its focus towards its Android and iOS applications, with the Android and iOS app launching recently.

    But the larger shift has been in how Tela thinks about business data.

    Rather than simply showing business owners numbers, the team wants Tela to help them understand those numbers.

    A business owner might know that sales have fallen by 20 percent compared with the previous week. Tela is being built to go beyond presenting that information by helping answer questions such as why sales are falling and what the business owner could do to improve them.

    The team describes this as building Tela on AI rather than simply adding AI as a feature.

    The goal is to turn business data into insights that entrepreneurs can understand in clear language, particularly for business owners who already have numerous responsibilities competing for their attention.

    For Tela, data is therefore not simply something a business collects. It is part of the technology that can drive the business forward.

    Bootstrapping the journey

    The company has also grown without external funding.

    According to the founders, the  co-founders have funded Tela themselves from the beginning and continue to bootstrap the business.

    That has meant building with a lean team and making the most of the resources available to them.

    For James, one of the biggest lessons from the journey has been the resilience required to keep building.

    He described staying together as a team and reaching this stage without external funding as one of the things he is most proud of.

    For a startup still navigating product development, adoption and market expansion, that resilience has become an important part of Tela’s story.

    Partnerships, payments and early traction

    As Tela has evolved, partnerships have also played a role in strengthening the platform.

    The company identified its partnership with Anchor as an important milestone, particularly around payments. The founders said the partnership helped improve payment processing and contributed to better reviews and increased adoption.

    Tela also processes payments for small businesses, and the team says transaction volumes have been increasing.

    More recently, the company introduced a storefront feature that allows small businesses to sell directly through the platform using payment links.

    While the team had not yet begun actively pushing the storefront feature at the time of the interview, it represented another step towards making Tela a more comprehensive platform for businesses.

    The company is also beginning to see adoption of its mobile product. Tela says it has surpassed 1,000 active users on its mobile app within its first three months, with more than 3,000 users overall.

    From business intelligence to an intelligent operating system

    Tela’s ambitions extend beyond its current product.

    The founders want the company to eventually become an intelligent operating system for growing and established businesses.

    That means expanding beyond its current capabilities and adding more of the tools entrepreneurs rely on to operate their businesses, while continuing to use AI to make those tools more intelligent.

    One of the company’s major upcoming products is a standalone sales AI.

    The team is working towards a system that can automate significant parts of the sales process, from payment and customer conversations to fulfilment, with the intention of allowing business owners to focus on the parts of the process that still require their direct involvement.

    The product is expected to be one of Tela’s major milestones over the coming months.

    Looking beyond Nigeria

    Tela’s ambitions are not limited to the Nigerian market.

    The company plans to expand across Nigeria before moving into other West African markets.

    The founders also indicated that they expect to become open to investment as the business grows and the company prepares for its next stage.

    For now, however, Tela remains focused on building the product, understanding its users and proving that AI can do more for small businesses than simply automate tasks.

    Its larger bet is that the next generation of business software should not only record what happened in a business, but help business owners understand why it happened and what they can do next.

    That is the direction Tela is taking as it works towards becoming an intelligent operating system for African businesses.

  • TLG Trade: The E-commerce Platform Helping African Businesses Go Digital

    TLG Trade: The E-commerce Platform Helping African Businesses Go Digital

    In 2020, millions of businesses across Africa were forced to close their doors.

    For weeks and, in some cases, months, shops that had relied almost entirely on walk-in customers suddenly had no customers to serve. Sales disappeared overnight. Businesses that had operated successfully for years realised how dependent they had become on physical locations.

    The pandemic exposed a weakness many entrepreneurs had never seriously considered.

    A business could have loyal customers, quality products, and a strong reputation, but if people couldn’t physically visit the store, the business struggled to survive.

    While schools moved online, churches began livestreaming services, and companies embraced virtual meetings, many small businesses were still searching for an affordable way to continue selling.

    That observation became the foundation for TLG Trade.

    The company was founded during the COVID-19 lockdown with a simple idea: physical stores should no longer be the only place where businesses exist. Instead of replacing traditional commerce, TLG Trade wanted to help businesses build digital storefronts that could continue serving customers regardless of physical disruptions.

    African Businesses Are Becoming More Discoverable Before They Become Visitable

    Consumer behaviour has changed significantly over the past few years.

    Today, many buying journeys begin long before someone enters a store. Customers search online, compare prices, read reviews, browse product catalogues, and evaluate sellers before making purchasing decisions.

    For businesses without an online presence, this shift creates a new challenge.

    The problem is no longer just selling products.

    It is being discovered in the first place.

    Many small businesses still rely heavily on physical locations and word-of-mouth referrals, even as consumers increasingly expect to find products through search engines, social media, and digital marketplaces.

    TLG Trade believes every business should have an online storefront that complements its physical location rather than replacing it.

    Building More Than an Online Shop

    One of the earliest lessons the company learned was that creating an online store alone does not guarantee sales.

    Many businesses expected customers to appear immediately after launching their websites. When that didn’t happen, some concluded that eCommerce simply didn’t work.

    The team realised that digital commerce required more than storefronts.

    Businesses also needed visibility.

    That insight shaped the evolution of TLG Trade into a broader eCommerce ecosystem.

    Today, the platform combines custom online storefronts with digital marketing tools, AI-assisted product listing, secure escrow payments, Google Search Console integration, Google Merchant Centre integration, Meta Merchant Centre integration, SEO-friendly infrastructure, and shareable product links that help businesses reach customers beyond their physical locations.

    Rather than functioning as a standalone online shop, the platform is designed to help businesses become easier to discover, market, and trust.

    Learning From Early Users

    Before its public relaunch, TLG Trade onboarded 150 sellers from different African countries during its pilot programme.

    The pilot became more than a product test.

    It became a learning exercise.

    Feedback from early users helped shape product improvements, refine the platform, and strengthen features before wider expansion. For the team, listening to businesses proved just as important as building technology.

    Today, the company’s initial focus remains Nairobi while preparing for broader expansion across the continent through partnerships and ecosystem collaborations.

    The Future of African Commerce

    For decades, many African businesses measured growth by opening additional physical locations.

    Digital commerce is beginning to change that equation.

    Growth increasingly depends not only on where a business is located, but also on how easily customers can discover it online.

    TLG Trade believes the future belongs to businesses that combine physical presence with digital accessibility.

    Looking ahead, the company plans to expand across Africa while strengthening its platform with additional AI capabilities, strategic partnerships, and integrated digital commerce tools.

    The ambition is larger than building another eCommerce platform.

    It is to help millions of African businesses become visible, discoverable, and competitive in a digital economy where the customer often arrives online before walking through the door.

  • Peerless Launches SeaBaas Lite to Transform Core Banking for Nigerian Microfinance Institutions

    Peerless Launches SeaBaas Lite to Transform Core Banking for Nigerian Microfinance Institutions

    Peerless, a modern enterprise technology company, has officially announced the launch of SeaBaas Lite. This core banking solution is built to support the digital transformation of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and fintechs across Africa.

    The product represents a standardized version of the company’s flagship SeaBaas core, designed for rapid deployment and operational efficiency.

    The Nigerian financial sector currently faces significant infrastructure hurdles. High capital expenditure on hardware, foreign exchange volatility affecting software maintenance, and the complexity of local regulatory compliance have created barriers for many institutions.

    SeaBaas Lite addresses these challenges by offering a cloud-native platform hosted on Huawei Cloud with local data residency. This ensures that Nigerian financial data stays within the country, meeting the requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).

    SeaBaas Lite is built on an API-first modern core. This technical foundation allows for seamless integration with external channels, facilitating automatic verifications and faster customer onboarding. By removing the need for manual data entry and disjointed verification processes, institutions can reduce their transaction processing time by 60%.

    The platform also solves a major pain point for compliance officers through built-in regulatory reporting templates. These templates are pre-mapped to local requirements, allowing banks to generate reports for regulators with a single click. This automation reduces the risk of manual errors and the potential for regulatory fines.

    Data is a central component of the new offering. SeaBaas Lite provides robust analytics that give banks rich insights into customer behavior. These data-driven tools help institutions move beyond simple record-keeping to identify new revenue opportunities and improve credit scoring models.

    “Peerless is on a mission to remove the high barriers of entry that have historically held back African financial institutions,” says Dr. Joachim Adenusi, Co-Founder and CEO of Peerless. “SeaBaas Lite gives MFBs and regional banks access to world-class infrastructure without the heavy price tag of legacy systems. We believe every institution deserves a core that supports growth instead of hindering it.”

    Support remains a key differentiator for Peerless. Unlike global competitors that often manage support from different time zones, Peerless maintains a top-quality technical and customer support team based in Lagos. This proximity allows for one-hour response times and a deeper understanding of local integration rails and network conditions.

    The track record of the SeaBaas infrastructure is substantial. The platform has served over 12 million end users and processed more than 4 billion transactions. These operations have led to over $30 million in operational savings for Peerless customers. The system maintains a 99.99% availability rate, providing stability even during peak transaction periods.

    Olumide Odeyemi, Marketing & Growth Manager at Peerless, notes that the transition from traditional hardware ownership to cloud access is a necessity in the current economic climate. “The cost of maintaining rigid legacy systems consumes budgets that should go toward innovation. SeaBaas Lite moves these costs from a heavy upfront investment to a predictable operational expense.”

    SeaBaas Lite is now open for subscription. Interested institutions can visit https://bepeerless.co/product/seabaaslite to learn more about the platform’s capabilities and the 30-day deployment promise.

     

    About Peerless

    Peerless is a modern enterprise technology company purpose-built to support the digital transformation of institutions in emerging markets. With offices in Nigeria and the UAE, Peerless provides core digital infrastructure including core banking software, business process automation, and customer relationship management tools.

  • Why Chowdeck is the Unsung Hero of Lagos Hustle Culture

    Why Chowdeck is the Unsung Hero of Lagos Hustle Culture

    Before Chowdeck showed up, ordering food without bleeding money on delivery fees or waiting two hours felt like a fairy tale.

    Bike men would quote you 5k to cross two neighbourhoods, Jumia Food, and the others slapped ridiculous charges on every order, and most times your jollof still arrived cold.

    Then Chowdeck landed in Lagos and quietly changed the game.

    Chowdeck isn’t just another delivery app, it’s a community of riders, restaurants, and everyday hustlers who finally made “quick and cheap” mean something real.

    In a city where traffic can swallow three hours of your life without warning, being able to get a full plate of egusi and pounded yam (or shawarma, or indomie deluxe) delivered for as low as ₦600 is revolutionary.

    That’s cheaper than the okada you’d take to the buka and back, and you can get free deliveries and a couple other freebies with a members subscription starting at just ₦3,500 a month.

    I’m the typical Lagos creative: 14-hour workdays, back-to-back Zoom calls, deadlines breathing down my neck.

    The moment hunger hits, my brain wants to shut down. Stepping out isn’t an option. Lagos traffic doesn’t care about your client presentation at 4 pm.


    Cooking? I love my kitchen, but not when I’m in the zone. Chowdeck became my lifeline.

    I’ve ordered from Chicken Republic in Ikorodu to my house in Federal Low Cost Housing Estate at 7:47 pm and had hot food in my hands by 8:09 pm. Two thousand five hundred naira total, including delivery. Try doing that with any other platform in 2019–2021.

    But it’s bigger than my personal convenience. Chowdeck created real jobs for thousands of young riders who now earn daily without needing a “connection” or university degree.

    Restaurants that were barely surviving now get orders from customers 30 minutes away, they would never have reached. Small businesses think that a woman making killer asun in Surulere or the guy doing moi-moi and akara in Ajah can now list on Chowdeck and blow up overnight.

    In a continent where logistics remains one of the biggest barriers to everything (e-commerce, healthcare, you name it), Chowdeck proved you can build hyper-efficient last-mile delivery that actually works for African wallets and African chaos.

    They’re in Morocco, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and still flying under the radar while the spotlight stays on fintech unicorns.

    Chowdeck deserves way more flowers. In the middle of Lagos madness, they made it possible for us to stay locked in, eat well, and keep creating without breaking the bank or wasting half the day. If that’s not proper African innovation, I don’t know what is.

  • The African Tech Brand Quietly changing lives : Paystack

    The African Tech Brand Quietly changing lives : Paystack

    When I think about the African tech brand that has quietly made life easier for thousands of creatives, small business owners, and dreamers like me, Paystack is the first name that comes to mind. It’s funny because I didn’t start out paying attention to fintech at all.

    I just wanted to understand why so many business pages on Instagram were suddenly taking payments smoothly without all the usual back-and-forth. Somewhere along the line, the answer kept pointing back to one company: Paystack.

    My first real interaction with the brand wasn’t even as a business owner. It was as a customer. I remember trying to pay for a virtual class and expecting the usual stress-failed transactions, double debits, or the “network not available” message.

    But the payment went through instantly, and the receipt hit my email before I could even refresh the page.

    It was such a small moment, but it made me pause. In this country, where simple things often become complicated, that small moment of ease meant something.

    The more I paid attention, the more I realized how deeply Paystack is woven into the daily hustle across Africa.

    The vendors who rely on payment links. The creators who send invoices. The startups that feel “official” because they have a proper checkout page. Even NGOs and schools use it now.

    Paystack somehow manages to be present but not loud , almost like a quiet backbone that keeps so many ideas alive.

    What I love most is how simple they make things feel. You don’t need to be tech-savvy to use it. You don’t need a big business. You don’t even need a website.

    There’s something empowering about that the idea that anyone with a skill or a passion can start collecting payments and building something real.

    And of course, the global recognition they’ve gotten, especially after their acquisition by Stripe, made me genuinely proud. It felt like a win for everyone who believes Africa can build world-class technology.

    But beyond the headlines and the milestones, Paystack represents something personal to me: possibility.

    The possibility that African problems can be solved by African innovators. The possibility that a simple idea can transform how we work and create.

    Paystack may be a fintech company, but to me, it’s a reminder that progress doesn’t always have to be loud. Sometimes, it’s the quiet systems running in the background that change the most lives.

    That’s why Paystack is the tech brand I love.

  • Chams Mobile is quietly building real solutions for Nigeria

    Chams Mobile is quietly building real solutions for Nigeria

    I still remember the first time someone mentioned Chamsmobile to me. It was during a casual conversation about digital payments and identity systems in Nigeria, and a friend said, “Have you checked what Chamsmobile is doing?

    They are not loud, but they’re doing real work.” Out of curiosity, I went online to see for myself, and honestly, that small search opened my eyes to a brand that deserves far more attention than it gets.

    What I love about Chamsmobile is that they are building solutions for realities we face every day in this country, not fantasies.

    Many tech companies chase hype; Chamsmobile builds quietly for people who need technology the most: market women, transport workers, SMEs, civil servants, and communities usually left out of the main conversation.

    One thing that really stood out to me is their focus on digital identity and financial inclusion. In a country where a simple thing like verifying someone’s identity can delay jobs, stop access to credit, or complicate business transactions,

    Chamsmobile found a way to simplify it with their Kegow platform. It’s not just about transferring money. It’s about helping people prove who they are, opening accounts easily, and accessing financial services without stress.

    I also respect how they operate. They don’t try to be everywhere at once; instead, they focus on solving real administrative and financial gaps in Nigeria.

    For example, the way they’ve built partnerships with government agencies and private organizations shows that they understand the Nigerian system deeply. They’ve also created room for agents and small business owners to earn through their digital services, and for me, that’s one of the most practical ways a tech brand can empower ordinary people.

    Another thing I admire is the trust they’ve built over the years. In a space where many fintechs rise fast and crash even faster, Chamsmobile is consistent.

    They don’t make noise, but they deliver. They’ve been part of Nigeria’s digital identity journey long before it became trendy, with the help of their parents’ company, Chams Hold Co, and they’ve stayed committed to it through every challenge.

    Chamsmobile makes me proud because they represent what African tech should be: innovation rooted in real problems, solutions created with Nigerians in mind, and a quiet confidence that speaks louder than hype. They may not always trend on social media, but they are impacting lives in a way that truly matters.

    For me, that’s the kind of tech brand worth celebrating.

  • Not all tech brands are app or fintech, Meet Mozzi Pizza, a Kigali digital dining game changer

    Not all tech brands are app or fintech, Meet Mozzi Pizza, a Kigali digital dining game changer

    Mozy Pizza Remera–Gisimenti

    When people talk about African tech brands, they usually mention apps, fintech startups, or mobility companies.

    But for me, one of the most impressive tech-driven brands I use almost every week is Mozy Pizza, right in Remera–Gisimenti, Kigali.

    It’s more than a restaurant, it’s a smooth digital experience that makes ordering food in the city feel modern, fast, and stress-free.

    My relationship with Mozy Pizza started on a busy afternoon when I didn’t have time to leave work. A friend told me, “Just order it on Vuba Vuba.” I tried it once… and now it’s my go-to for pizza, burgers, shawarma, and even their surprisingly good coffee. What keeps me loyal isn’t just the food, it’s how technology connects everything, from ordering to payment to fast delivery.

    The first thing I love about Mozy Pizza is how easy it is to order online. Whether I’m at home or at school, I open Vuba Vuba, choose what I want, and confirm. No calling, no waiting, no miscommunication.

    Their menu is always updated, and I can track my order in real time. For a city like Kigali that’s growing quickly, that level of convenience matters.

    Payments are another thing they’ve nailed. Mozy accepts Mobile Money, Visa cards, and other digital options.

    This makes it simple for anyone, whether you prefer MoMo or card payments, to check out in seconds. It feels like the brand truly understands how young Rwandans live: cashless, online, and always on the move.

    And of course, we have to talk about delivery. Mozy Pizza delivers across Kigali, and they are consistently fast.

    Even during peak hours, I get updates, and the riders always arrive with warm food. That reliability is one of the reasons I consider Mozy a tech-enabled brand worth celebrating. They have blended good food with the right digital tools to solve a real problem: getting quality meals quickly and conveniently in a busy city.

    In a market where many restaurants still rely on traditional methods, Mozy Pizza stands out by embracing technology to improve customer experience.

    It may not look like a typical “tech company,” but the way it operates — online ordering, digital payments, and efficient delivery — is exactly what modern African consumers need, and one thing I have noticed is that they are also liked by internationals like Nigerians, Indians, Europeans and those one comes from alba ,, their menu is preferable.

    For me, Mozy Pizza is more than a place that makes great pizza. It’s a perfect example of how technology can transform everyday services and make life easier.

    That’s why it’s the African tech-powered brand I genuinely love.

  • My first dividend alert from Bamboo changed everything

    My first dividend alert from Bamboo changed everything

    I got a credit alert on Friday, and it completely surprised me. At first, I thought it was just a random notification. But when I checked properly, I realized it was my first-ever dividend payout, from one of the stocks I invested in through Bamboo.

    That small moment made everything feel real, like, “Wow, I’m actually investing.”

    My interest in investing started about two years ago, even though I didn’t fully understand it then. Last year at my former workplace, a few of us, the ladies, got into a conversation about savings, wealth-building, and different investment apps.

    Someone mentioned Bamboo, and we all downloaded it on the spot. We tried setting it up that day, but something came up for me, and I didn’t complete my registration. The excitement faded, and life moved on.

    Earlier this year, I started seeing people on X (Twitter) talk about investment again. I love reading those conversations, especially when they break things down in simple ways.

    Bamboo kept coming up, and because I had interacted with it before, I decided to go back to it. This time, I completed my setup and began investing, even though I wasn’t fully consistent and didn’t understand everything at first.

    What made it easier is how simple the Bamboo app is.

    The interface is clean, clear, and beginner-friendly. You can see your stocks, track your money, and understand what’s happening without feeling confused. And even though I didn’t learn from any official community, I picked up so many helpful tips from regular people sharing their experiences on X, things like how dividends work or how to navigate certain features.

    But nothing prepared me for the feeling of seeing that dividend alert on Friday. The amount wasn’t the point.

    What mattered was the realization that something I invested in actually grew and returned value. It felt like a small victory, but a very meaningful one.

    Bamboo stands out to me because it makes investing accessible. It brings global stocks closer and makes the whole process simple enough for anyone who is just starting the journey.

    And that first dividend? It gave me the motivation to keep going.

  • Lumi business -an idea to 400,000 monthly sales transactions in peak periods

    Lumi business -an idea to 400,000 monthly sales transactions in peak periods

    It started during COVID, when movement was restricted, and many of us finally had time to think deeply about the structural problems facing African businesses.

    There were four of us at the beginning. We met roughly once a month, not to rush into building a startup, but to talk through patterns we were seeing in the market. One issue kept resurfacing. Most businesses in Nigeria were operating with very little data and almost no modern tools to guide day-to-day decision making.

    At the time, many startups were focused almost entirely on payment collection. That mattered, but it felt incomplete. Collecting money is only one part of running a business. Inventory, expenses, reporting, and performance visibility were still largely unmanaged. Businesses were working hard, but without clarity.

    That gap became the foundation of Lumi Business.

    After Payments, Businesses Were Left Alone

    Speaking directly with business owners shaped our conviction. Again and again, we saw that once payments were collected, owners were largely left on their own. Many relied on foreign software that was not built for Nigeria. Others stitched together fragmented local tools that never worked as a single system.

    The result was predictable. Decisions were made based on instinct rather than insight. Owners put in effort without knowing what was truly working. That disconnect between effort and clarity pushed us into this space.

    We did not want to build another narrow solution. We wanted to help businesses actually run better.

    Starting With People and Patience

    We started with a technically strong founding team, most of us with engineering backgrounds. Several of us had worked in structured retail and manufacturing environments like KraftHeinz and Pepsi, as well as tech startups serving small and medium businesses. Those experiences shaped how we thought about systems, efficiency, and scale.

    On the capital side, we raised a small friends and family round. It allowed us to build an early product, test with real merchants, and iterate quickly without external pressure. Family and close friends were critical, not just financially, but emotionally. Their belief gave us the patience to build deliberately and stay focused on real customer problems.

    Trust, Pricing, and Market Reality

    Early challenges were unavoidable. The first was trust. Convincing business owners to move critical operations onto a new platform takes time. The second was hiring, especially in an environment where experienced talent often had safer or better-paying options.

    Pricing was another constraint. Nigerian businesses are highly price sensitive, and we could not charge what similar tools cost in Europe or North America, even though development costs were comparable. Inflation and currency instability made long-term planning difficult.

    Interestingly, recent tax reforms shifted behaviour. More businesses began to understand the importance of proper record keeping and structured systems. That shift aligned closely with what we were building.

    Technology as the Foundation

    Lumi was technology-first from day one. We were not a traditional business that later adopted tech. Technology was the lever for scale, consistency, and insight.

    We built an all-in-one platform combining sales, inventory management, payments, expenses, customer management, analytics, and integrations with financial partners. Internally, strong data infrastructure and scalable cloud systems allowed us to support hundreds of merchants across multiple locations.

    Once customers got past the learning curve, many became deeply reliant on the visibility and control the platform provided. Over time, Lumi shifted from being a nice-to-have to being operationally essential.

    Growth, Impact, and What Endures

    At our peak, we were processing over 400,000 sales transactions monthly and more than ₦11 billion in transaction value across hundreds of merchants. Beyond scale, we are proud that we built a profitable, sustainable business solving real operational problems.

    As customers matured, their questions changed. They began asking about margins, trends, and optimisation. Access to data was reshaping how they thought about their businesses.

    Through it all, certain principles remained non-negotiable. Treat the team fairly. Reward hard work. Champion the customer. Build patiently.

    Looking ahead, the focus is on scaling through aligned partnerships and ensuring technology remains digestible for business owners used to manual systems. As AI reshapes competitive advantage, structured data will be the entry point. That is where Lumi’s foundation matters most.

    It feels like we have only scratched the surface.

  • XARA: Banking without a new app

    XARA: Banking without a new app

    Most fintech apps in Nigeria follow the same script.

    Build a shiny interface, pack in features, then fight to convince people to download one more app they’ll barely open. Xara walked away from that playbook.

    Sulaiman Adewale, Xara’s founder, built a financial tool that runs inside WhatsApp. No extra app. No onboarding stress.

    You open the platform you already use every day and handle your transactions from there. With 95% of most Nigerian social media users already active on WhatsApp, this offers an explicit opportunity to leverage.

    What stands out is how smoothly Xara fits into everyday conversation. You can send a voice note in pidgin, drop a photo of an account number, or type: “Send ₦10,000 to Seun for breakfast.” And the system seamlessly understands.

    The AI was trained on Nigerian expressions, so it responds to the way people actually speak. And that’s really important.

    Many banking apps still overwhelm users with interfaces that feel stiff or confusing. Xara removes that friction completely.

    It also works on simple phones with unstable internet connections. You don’t need a fancy device or steady data. You don’t need to switch between apps or search for account numbers. Everything happens on directly on WhatsApp.

    And the way people easily adopted it shows it works. Within two weeks of launch, Xara pulled in 10,000 users and processed over ₦135 million in transactions. These aren’t just people downloading for the sake of it—It works, and they’re using it.

    Xara is worth paying attention to for more than convenience. It’s proof that African tech doesn’t have to copy Western products to succeed. Sometimes the answer is meeting people where they already are, using the tools they already trust. Adewale saw that and built around it.

    There’s still work ahead—building trust, scaling, and regulation. But if Xara grows, it signals something bigger. Financial inclusion doesn’t always hinge on building complex products.

    Sometimes the breakthrough is as simple as moving banking to the space people open every morning.

    In a market that has shut out millions with complexity, Xara’s strength is its simplicity. And that’s why it stands out for me and several other Nigerians.