We like to talk about innovation, scaling products and reaching “the next billion” users, but in Nigeria, more than 54% of people live below the poverty line. That means over 120 million Nigerians wake up each day without enough food, clean water, or access to basic healthcare.
Nonetheless, we’re told this is the next great frontier for digital innovation. Data usage is surging; there are over 150 million active SIMs, internet penetration stands at 45.4%, with 107 million Nigerians online, and smartphones more accessible than ever.
But there’s a disconnect: 39.4% of Nigerians still don’t have electricity. In rural areas, three out of four people are poor, and smartphone ownership drops to 26%.
So, who are we building for? And why are we so comfortable ignoring those we’ve left behind?
The Illusion of Scale
There’s a dangerous myth in our space, that if you just give people internet, you’ve solved development. Tech founders repeat it, investors reinforce it, and policies are built around it. But the truth is, many of the people we claim to be building for can’t afford the very solutions we’re scaling.
It’s easy to design for urban customers with smartphones and stable power. That’s where the numbers are clean. But those are not the people most in need. In rural communities, where poverty is deepest, there’s no broadband, no power, and sometimes no roads. Scaling tech without solving these underlying issues is lazy.
Capital Misalignment
Most of the money flowing into Africa’s tech sector doesn’t come from here. It comes from foreign funds chasing growth metrics. But these investors are not interested in slow, complex problems like hunger, education, or electricity. They want user growth, low acquisition costs, and recurring revenue.
That pressure distorts priorities. A fintech startup is more likely to build another payment app for salaried professionals than create tools for market women in Aba or farmers in Zamfara. Why? Because investors aren’t patient, and the people most affected by poverty don’t fit the growth model.
Some founders are just waiting to hit the right metrics to raise their next round, not to fix anything fundamental. That’s not innovation, it’s extraction.
Innovation Can’t Breathe Without Infrastructure
Let’s not complicate it. You can’t build digital products that require constant access to power when 40% of the population lives in the dark. You can’t build online learning tools when millions of children don’t even have chairs to sit on in school.
We usually act as if tech can leap over these problems, that it’s somehow immune to bad roads, poor electricity, and broken policy. But we’re wrong. Tech built on broken systems will break with them.
The numbers speak loudly; urban smartphone penetration is 59%; rural is just 26%. Electricity access is patchy, and in some states, entirely unreliable. How do you scale when the pipeline itself is fractured?
Rethinking What to Build
There are exceptions; founders working to solve real problems from the ground up. People building solar-powered solutions for last-mile clinics. Platforms that work offline. Logistics networks reaching places telcos haven’t bothered with.
These are not the loudest startups, but they’re the most needed. We need more of them. Not another super app, not another crypto platform, not another same-day delivery service for people with iPhones.
It’s time we stop copying what worked in California and start asking: what works in Kano? What do people in Ekiti actually need?
Who’s Responsible?
Everyone involved has a role to play: founders, investors, policymakers. Founders must be honest about their markets. If you’re not solving anything meaningful, at least stop pretending that you are. Investors need to stop funding startups with shallow solutions wrapped in fancy decks. Governments should stop outsourcing their failures to the private sector and actually invest in infrastructure.
If we keep ignoring these responsibilities, we will keep scaling noise, not impact.
Internet growth is not development, SIM cards don’t build schools, and data usage does not guarantee a better life.
Yes, tech is scaling fast; monthly data consumption hit 1 million terabytes in January 2025, nearly double from two years ago. But what is the point of that scale if the majority of people still live in hunger and darkness?
If we truly want to build for the next billion, we need to first address the poverty, hunger, and systemic neglect that define the lives of the first. We don’t need more platforms, we need power, schools and clean water.
Until then, “the next billion” will remain a fantasy that benefits everyone except the people it claims to serve.
