By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
Nigeria’s tech revolution is unfolding quietly. Across the country, disciplined founders are building globally relevant infrastructure and platforms that are redefining value, influence, and economic power. These innovators are focusing on scale, resilience, and long-term impact.
Below are some Nigerian innovations set to revolutionise the nation’s tech industry.
LekeeLekee – Prince Nduka Obaigbena
LekeeLekee is the most unconventional and distinctive new entrant into Africa’s emerging social platforms, not because of what it does, but because of where it comes from. In an ecosystem shaped largely by Silicon Valley templates, Asian platform clones, and global technology archetypes, LekeeLekee, whose unveiling date will be announced soon, represents a meaningful convergence of Africa’s established media heritage and next-generation social technology.
It is a platform informed by decades of narrative leadership, cultural intelligence, and continental vision, now expressed through a purpose-built digital ecosystem.
The innovative platform is backed by Prince Nduka Obaigbena, the founder of the ARISE and THISDAY Media Group. It reflects the deliberate maturation of a long-held vision. Obaigbena is advancing a model few African media founders have attempted at scale. Lekeelekee is a homegrown social and super-app platform conceived with longevity, relevance, and African centrality at its core.
The name itself carries meaning. LekeeLekee draws inspiration from “Lekeleke”, the cartoonist pseudonym Obaigbena adopted during his university years, well before the emergence of THISDAY, ARISE News, or global broadcast studios. This reference is both personal and philosophical, signalling continuity rather than departure. LekeeLekee is not a shift into technology but an evolution of enduring commitments to storytelling, expression, and voice. In this sense, it represents a full-circle moment.
Acumen Digital – Ayo Onasanya
Acumen Digital exemplifies the maturation of Nigeria’s product and venture studio ecosystem, where design, engineering, and venture building converge into repeatable value creation. The company, founded by Ayo Onasanya, operates across Africa, the United States, and Europe, working with global brands while quietly launching proprietary ventures. Products like Karla, a contactless payments solution, and Tendar, an AI-powered lending management platform, show how Nigerian startups are moving beyond single-product bets into platform thinking. Acumen’s strength lies in execution depth, user-centred design, and enterprise-grade delivery, qualities increasingly demanded by African financial and digital institutions. The company reflects a broader trend of Nigerian startups exporting expertise rather than just products.
Cyberpedia Internet Governance- Sowemimo Abiodun
Cyberpedia represents one of Africa’s most advanced plays in AI-powered due diligence, cybersecurity, and digital risk governance. Founded by Sowemimo Abiodun, the platform functions as a real-time intelligence engine for identity verification, compliance, and misinformation control across more than one hundred countries. Its recognition by global institutions such as the World Economic Forum, the African Union, and the United Nations ecosystem underscores the growing global relevance of African-built governance technology.
At its core, Cyberpedia reflects a broader shift: African startups are increasingly exporting trust infrastructure to the world. Operating complex, capital-intensive data systems at a global scale from an emerging market demands technical depth, regulatory fluency, and long-term discipline. Cyberpedia’s continued expansion highlights the capability required to sustain such systems while navigating evolving regulatory environments and competitive talent markets.
Balance and HUGE Solutions – Kelvin BawA
Balance represents one of the most ethically ambitious technology plays emerging from Nigeria, positioning inclusive data as the foundation of future healthcare AI. Founded by Kelvin Bawa, it is solving a foundational failure in medical AI for clinicians, regulators, and life sciences companies working with diverse patient populations. Today, most diagnostic models are trained on datasets that are nearly 95 per cent white, leaving darker skin tones under-represented, underperforming, and increasingly non-compliant with regulatory expectations. Balance provides the missing ground truth.
Their work differs from consumer-facing tools built on unverified images. It operates as a clinical data engine, sourcing biopsy-verified dermatology data for Fitzpatrick skin types IV to VI through NDPR-certified partnerships with Nigerian teaching hospitals. This produces regulatory-grade datasets that pharmaceutical and health technology companies can trust.
Over the past year, it has secured hospital partnerships, digitised large pathology archives, and completed early validation pilots with industry partners.
These are just a few of the amazing innovations and innovators shaping Nigeria’s tech future with the promise of much more to come.
Together, these founders and firms point to a decisive shift in Nigeria’s tech and media movement and growth from consumption to ownership of critical infrastructure. The common thread that binds them all together is maturity, patient capital, deep execution, and global relevance. Nigeria’s advantage is no longer scale alone but credible systems. Those aligning early will shape Africa’s next layer of economic power.
