Technology

Nigeria's e-commerce sector continues its exponential growth, driven by increasing internet penetration, a burgeoning young population, and the convenience of online shopping. Platforms like Jumia and Konga, alongside a wave of smaller specialized online retailers, are transforming consumer habits and the retail landscape across the country.

The expansion of Nigeria's digital infrastructure is crucial for unlocking the nation's full technological and economic potential. Significant investments are being made in fiber optic networks, broadband connectivity, and data centers to ensure that more Nigerians have access to reliable and high-speed internet.

Mobile money services are transforming the financial landscape in Nigeria, offering a lifeline to millions who were previously excluded from traditional banking systems. With the widespread adoption of mobile phones, these services provide easy access to payments, transfers, and other financial transactions, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

Recognizing the critical role of a skilled workforce in driving technological advancement, Nigeria is witnessing a surge in tech education initiatives. From coding bootcamps and online courses to specialized university programs, efforts are underway to equip young Nigerians with the digital skills needed for the 21st-century economy.

Nigeria's fintech sector continues to be a powerhouse, with companies like Flutterwave and Paystack leading the charge in revolutionizing digital payments. These unicorns, born out of the vibrant Lagos tech ecosystem, are not only facilitating seamless transactions within Nigeria but are also expanding their footprint across the African continent, enabling millions of businesses and individuals to participate in the digital economy.

Nigeria's startup ecosystem is experiencing unprecedented growth in funding, with local and international investors pouring capital into promising ventures. This surge reflects growing confidence in the country's innovative capacity, its large market size, and the potential for high returns on investment across various sectors.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly gaining traction in Nigeria, with startups and established companies exploring its potential across various sectors, from finance and healthcare to agriculture and education. The adoption of AI is set to revolutionize traditional industries, optimizing operations, and creating new opportunities for growth and innovation.

Lagos, Nigeria, has firmly established itself as a leading technology hub in Africa, fostering a dynamic environment where innovation thrives. Spaces like Yaba's 'Silicon Lagoon' and other emerging tech zones are home to a myriad of incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces that provide crucial support for budding startups.

There was a time when the thrill of taking a project from idea to self-hosted reality felt like a rite of passage. A little server in the corner of your closet, a domain you begged your friend to register, and the pride that came with running your own stack. Today, the landscape has shifted. The cloud became the default, operations became a language, and the decision to self-host isn’t just about tech prowess — it’s about balancing time, risk, and focus. If you’re weighing the hustle of self-hosting a side project in 2025, here are a few considerations that matter beyond the hype.

A Pragmatic Approach to Application Security for Small Teams

Building resilient systems in unreliable environments isn’t just a theoretical exercise for the next big cloud-native keynote. It’s the daily reality for developers, operators, and product folks who ship software that lives in the wild: where networks flap, power dips, and hardware can misbehave. I’ve learned this the hard way, wiring up a service that seemed robust on test only to watch it buckle when a regional outage hit. The lesson wasn’t about heroic fixes but about designing for resilience from the ground up, in every layer of the stack.

Remote work has become more than a trend; it’s a practical reality shaping how Nigerian developers learn, collaborate, and build products that travel beyond borders. When I started coding back in Lagos, the idea of working from a coffee shop with a team in Europe sounded glamorous. The truth, over time, has been more nuanced and surprisingly empowering for those who navigate it with clear expectations and practical strategies.

When you wake up in Lagos, Abuja, or Port Harcourt and slide into your home office, the line between work and life isn’t just blurred — it’s a daily balancing act. Remote work promised freedom, global teams, and the chance to finally control your schedule. But for many Nigerian developers, the reality has a different texture: opportunity, yes, but with challenges that are uniquely local and deeply human.

My debugging workflow when everything is on fire

If you’re like me and you’ve got a side project that started as a hobby but keeps nudging you to level up, you’ve probably asked yourself this question more than once. Self-hosting — running your own server, domain, and infrastructure — sounds technically impressive and gives you control. But in 2025, with cloud services pricing, supply-chain realities, and Nigeria’s internet landscape, it’s worth pausing to weigh the real cost and benefit. Let me share a practical way to think about it, with Nigerian realities baked in and some concrete scenarios you can relate to.

Security can feel like a luxury when you’re wearing multiple hats in a small tech team in Nigeria. You might be juggling product deadlines, customer requests, and a limited budget. The truth is, you don’t need a fortress to start with, just a practical plan that fits your team size and your risk profile. This piece walks you through a hands-on approach to securing your application without the buzzword fatigue or sticker-price of enterprise-grade solutions.

Nigeria, like many emerging markets, teaches you resilience by force. The grid cuts out, the internet jitters, and you still have to keep a bank app, a logistics platform, or a small business tool running. Building resilient systems in such environments isn’t optional — it’s a core feature. This piece walks you through practical, no-nonsense strategies that work in real Nigerian contexts, with concrete examples you can adapt today.

Remote work has become a phrase you hear every week in the tech circles here in Nigeria. It sounds ideal — flexible hours, work from anywhere, and the ability to tap into global opportunities without leaving Lagos or Abuja. But the reality on the ground is more nuanced. It’s a mix of opportunity and friction, promise and discipline, especially for developers who are navigating the local internet, time zones, and the rhythms of Nigerian work culture.

If you’re in Nigeria and you’ve ever tinkered with a side project - a personal app, a small SaaS idea, a blog with a twist, or a niche e-commerce store - you’ve probably asked yourself a version of this question: should I self-host, or should I rely on someone else’s platform? In 2025, the short answer is: it depends. The long answer takes a bit more digging because your decision hinges on your goals, your risk tolerance, and the realities of tech in our local context.

In a crowded Lagos coworking space or a quiet Port Harcourt side office, your small tech team might feel like you’re David against Goliath when it comes to security. Budgets are tight, timelines are tight, and the last thing you want is a breach that derails your business. This piece is for you—practical, doable, and tailored for small teams in Nigeria. We’ll walk through a pragmatic approach to securing your application without drowning in the complexity of enterprise-grade security.

Building Resilient Systems in Unreliable Environments

Many of us in Nigeria woke up to the buzz of remote work like it was a new sunrise. It sounded glamorous at first - flexible hours, chances to work with teams abroad, and the idea that talent would finally be the only limiter. But reality has a lot more texture: time zones that stretch your sleep, internet drama that makes you rethink coffee as a lifeline, and the daily rituals of staying visible in a crowd that isn’t physically present. Here, we peel back the curtain on what remote work really looks like for Nigerian developers, with details you can actually act on.