E-Business
Alerzo Believes they Can Build Another Lagos in Ibadan
By Sam Adeoye
At this moment in time, long, hot traffic jams are becoming a thing in Ibadan. The folks who live in that city are half-proud of this congestion because it sorts of presents them with a shared experience with the too-cool-for-school Lagosians. On the other hand, however, they desperately hate it because the whole point of Ibadan is that it’s less insane than Lagos — hustle-wise.
But my point with this article isn’t about the hustle or the bustle. It’s about the likelihood of replicating the vibrant tech ecosystem of Lagos in another Nigerian city. In this case, Ibadan.
You might think I’m only being delusional with this idea, but one brilliant start-up is suggesting that it is indeed possible to build a tech giant from over there. This start-up, ladies and gentlemen, is called Alerzo.
If you’ve never heard of Alerzo, consider yourself forgiven. I myself only knew of it last week when I had a conversation with the serial entrepreneur and start-up mentor known as Opeyemi Awoyemi. As you may recall, Mr Awoyemi has been a cofounder of some tech juggernauts, namely Jobberman, Whogohost, TalentQL, and Moneymie.
In the course of our chat, I asked Opeyemi this question: Now that Lagos has attained this reputation as Africa’s most vibrant start-up hub, is it possible to replicate the success of Lagos elsewhere within Nigeria?
As it turned out, this was a question he’d been giving a lot of thought. So, to me, he immediately said, Well, it depends. “Name a city and let’s talk about it.”
To which I said, “Ibadan.”
“Brilliant,” he said.
See, Ibadan has a lot going for it. One, it is West Africa’s largest city. It is also close to Lagos — just about 120km. Besides, one of Nigeria’s most active universities, as far as tech entrepreneurship is concerned, is only 75km away from Ibadan. I’m talking about the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, aka OAU. Some of Nigeria’s best-funded tech companies were founded or cofounded by OAU alumni. Nomba (formerly Kudi), Farmcrowdy, 54Gene, SlimTrader, and PropertyPro are some of those companies.
Two, operating in Ibadan is considerably cheaper than it is Lagos. For instance, a four-room duplex in suburban Ibadan will rent for N1.8 million per year. Take a similar location in Lagos and the same property won’t cost you less than N3 million.
Then, there’s the new rail line that makes it easy to be headquartered in Ibadan and never miss ecosystem meetups and corporate meetings in Lagos. When the Lagos-Ibadan expressway is finally completed, it too should further shorten the distance between the two cities.
In the meantime, no other company is making better use of Ibadan’s remarkable standing than Alerzo.
Founded by Adewale Opaleye in 2018 to help small retailers stock their shops directly from manufacturers, Alerzo has raised more than $20 million in its seed and series A rounds. And it got some pretty savvy investors behind it, too. Big names such as the Africa-focused accelerator, Baobab Network; the Singapore-based Signal Hill; the London-based Nosara Capital; FJ Labs; and several family offices from Europe, Asia, and the US have put major money behind Alerzo, according to reporting by TechCrunch.
Opaleye, who is himself a native Ibadan man and the son of a mom-and-pop shop owner, has said his big idea for Alerzo came from watching his mother’s “many challenges”. The old lady, he said, ran two stores while raising four kids. So, Opaleye told TechCrunch, “I decided to start a business that uniquely catered to the needs of retailers just like her.”
While solving a problem close to home might sound pretty cool, the coolest part of this man’s idea is that it doesn’t even bother to recruit clients from Lagos, at least not yet. Yes, it does have a “Lagos Hub” in Victoria Island, but it has concentrated its business on Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ekiti and other towns like them in Southwest Nigeria. The company refers to these locations as Tier-2 to Tier-4 cities.
In just three years, Alerzo says its customer base has now expanded into about 100,000 small business in these towns. Through Alerzo, these retailers receive supplies from mega consumer goods manufacturers like Dangote, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, and PZ Cussons.
Isn’t that something? Who would have thought that a billion-dollar tech-enabled logistics and FMCG supply company could spring from slow-paced Ibadan? I mean, for years, if you’d asked any of the thousands of young people relocating from Ibadan why they were hightailing it to Lagos, Nigeria’s most crowded metropolis, their answer was always direct and fast: “there’s no money in that town.”
Now, thankfully, it appears that things can be different. It’s just that for things to actually change, people would have to make them… change.
This is what Opeyemi Awoyemi was talking about. “Each State [of Nigeria] can look at the situation of the economy and decide what they want to be,” he said to me.
That’s indeed true. And pretty straightforward, too. There’s just so much that Lagos can do for Nigerian entrepreneurs. Because its resources are limited, competition for those resources will continue to drive up the cost of starting, and running, a business here. Which then presents an extraordinary opportunity to neighbouring States — for a start, Ogun and Oyo (which has Ibadan as its capital). These States can choose what role they’d like to play in this flourishing tech economy.
In this new era of WFH and remote employment, for example, all barriers to talent location are crashing down. Both TalentQL— the tech staffing recruitment portal, and uLesson — the on-demand tutoring company — have proven that, if you can set up Wi-Fi there, you can situate your software engineers and designers there. It doesn’t matter if it’s the pristine locality of Ile-Ife down in the south or the chilly hills of Jos, near the country’s centre.
And with Alerzo, the eye of the government should open to the truth about enabling environments for tech enterprise. Sometimes all it takes to encourage new ventures is an acceptance of new thinking. That and a transportation system that works, dedicated real estate layouts, and (or) tax breaks. When you make your place conducive for creators, and make sure they hear about it, and they’ll come.
Today, we talk about Nigerian start-ups being Delaware (USA) companies. There’s a reason Delaware became the go-to American state to register new corporations. As Mr Awoyemi said, Delaware decided what it wanted to be and it went straight for it.
Hopefully a Nigerian governor or one of his aides will read this article. Hopefully, it will start a conversation in their cabinet. Hopefully, they will do something life-changing with it.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has clarified that all its verification service platforms remain fully functional and accessible to all authorized partners, including security agencies.
Abisoye Coker-Odusote, DG, NIMC
In a statement on Thursday, the Commission firmly denied claims that it had denied the Police Service Commission (PSC) access to its verification server.
Dr. Kayode Adegoke, head of Corporate Communications, NIMC, described the reported “inability of the Police Service Commission to access the NIMC verification server” as misleading and inaccurate.
He suggested that any challenges faced by the PSC may be due to internal issues within the commission itself, not from NIMC’s end.
The statement reads: “To set the record straight, the NIMC granted verification access to all Nigerian Police formations for the verification of the National Identification Number (NIN). The NPF, PSC and other security agencies have been enjoying uninterrupted verification services for over five years.
“NIMC has provided top-notch verification services for recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force, as conducted by the PSC and at no time have there been any complaints or issues regarding NIN Verification by the NPF or PSC.
“The Commission has a robust and harmonious working relationship with the Nigerian Police Force and the Police Service Commission. The Information Communications and Technology (ICT) department of the Nigeria Police Force is actively managing the long-standing verification and integration service between the NIMC and all Nigeria Police formations.Entertainment tourism packages
“NIMC will continue to provide flawless verification services for the purpose of recruitment, security mapping, cybercrime control, and any other security matters.
“The framework by which NIMC provides services to the security agencies was recently restructured for standardization and effective implementation, following consultation with the Office of the National Security Adviser, and NPF has confirmed the verification services have continued to be available. We therefore believe that any service interruption experienced by PSC may be due to internal matters.
“NIMC is committed to providing excellent verification services to the PSC, NPF and all its partners but the terms and conditions inherent must be adhered to for uninterrupted flow of service.”
Nigerian government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has announced a strategic collaboration to strengthen cybersecurity and clean up the nation’s cyberspace.
Recognizing that cybercrime knows no borders, Nigeria also reaffirmed its commitment to fostering stronger global partnerships within the cybersecurity ecosystem.
This announcement was made during a press conference before the inaugural National Cybersecurity Conference, which is scheduled to take place in Abuja from July 9th to 11th, 2025.
Sa’ad Abubakar, national cybersecurity coordinator from the Office of National Security Advisor, said fighting cybercrime must take the whole of society and the whole of the government approach.
According to him, “Apart from the deterrent approach whereby government agencies such as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrest individuals, take them to court and prosecute them, the youth can be nurtured into better citizens who can showcase their capacity in better ways and be useful to the country.”
Similarly, Kashifu Abdullahi, director-general, NITDA, also stressed the need for collaborative efforts in fighting cybercrimes.
According to him “Then, in addition to that, we also want to build a stronger global collaboration with the global cyber security ecosystem, because when you look at cybercrime in general, it doesn’t respect the borders.
“Someone can commit a crime from Ghana using a Nigerian ID in the US. So you can look at him physically in a different jurisdiction, pretending to be in another jurisdiction, committing the crime in another jurisdiction.
“So without that kind of synergy and working together, it will be difficult to address these challenges. The third one is challenge. The third one is getting an alternative to cybercrime for our kids in Nigeria. We have this as a major challenge.”
Inuwa further highlighted the upcoming conference’s importance, noting that it would tackle key issues through workshops, discussions on emerging threats, cross-border cybersecurity collaboration strategies, and training programmes.
He also announced that the National Cybersecurity Conference 2025 would feature the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, recognising top contributions in the field.
The DG extended an invitation to global partners to collaborate with Nigeria in building a safer digital future.
The press conference was attended by notable figures, including Ahmad Sa’ad Abubakar, National Coordinator of, the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre (NCCC); Hanniel Jafar, Representative of the President, of Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN); Ankit Shukla, Managing Director, QNA Marketing Management LLC and members of the press and other stakeholders.
XIAN Telecom has acquired an 8% stake in pan-African e-commerce company Jumia Technologies, citing the platform’s fintech and logistics strengths as key drivers of its backing.
This marks the first major telecom investment in Jumia since MTN Group’s exit in 2020.
AXIAN, a fast-growing telecom and digital services provider with operations across Africa, disclosed the purchase in a Schedule 13D filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
While the financial terms were not disclosed, AXIAN Telecom CEO, Hassan Jaber, described the move as a strategic alignment with Jumia’s growth trajectory and digital ecosystem.
“Jumia’s achievements in digital retail and fintech, particularly through JumiaPay and its logistics network, make it a very attractive investment for us. We believe in Jumia’s potential to promote financial and economic inclusion, which aligns with our core values,” said Jaber.
Once dubbed the “Amazon of Africa,” Jumia became the first African-founded tech company to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019.
But years of underperformance, leadership changes, and competitive pressures dented investor confidence.
In October 2020, South Africa’s MTN Group offloaded its 18.9% stake for $138 million, well below the $698 million value it once held post-IPO.
Since then, Jumia has undergone a significant transformation. Under CEO Francis Dufay, appointed in 2022, the company exited low-performing markets like South Africa and Tunisia, cut costs, and doubled down on core markets – Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco.
The firm is now focused on high-growth verticals, including everyday essentials and digital financial services.
Jumia’s regional CEO for East Africa, Vinod Goel, recently revealed plans to scale up international brand offerings and open its logistics network to third-party businesses.
Jaber underscored that AXIAN Telecom’s investment signals renewed confidence in Jumia’s long-term potential.
The telecom firm’s CEO said the company views Jumia as a key player in advancing Africa’s digital economy, aligning with AXIAN’s mission through its fintech and digital infrastructure brands such as Yas and Mixx by Yas.
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