Afrinvest is preparing its platform for a new phase of retail investing in Nigeria, with new upgrades to its Afrinvestor app, new IPO features, better customer support systems and plans that could eventually allow investors across Africa to buy into Nigerian equities from a single platform.
The investment firm made this known during its Afrinvest Meetup held in Lagos, where executives sat face-to-face with users, retail investor, finance creators and influencers in what became an unusually open conversation about the company’s technology problems, customer frustrations and resolutions future plans.
At the centre of the discussion was Afrinvest’s renewed drive to win back investor confidence after recent platform glitches that triggered backlash online and complaints from users over delayed settlements, duplicated trades and customer support gaps.
Speaking during the session, Ike Chioke, group managing director of Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited, admitted the firm had learned difficult lessons from the experience and would use the feedback to improve its systems.
“I can assure you that we’re going to take all of this feedback and integrate the systems and processes, and then figure out how to come up with a better application,” he said.
Chioke said one of the biggest realities the company had to confront was the gap between financial products and the average Nigerian investor.
The meetup focused heavily on Afrinvestor 2.0, the company’s upgraded investment platform, which executives said now includes improved security, easier onboarding and a new IPO subscription feature designed to handle upcoming public offers, including the expected Dangote Refinery IPO.
During a product showcase led by Taiwo Ogundipe, managing director of Afrinvest Securities Limited, the company demonstrated how users can subscribe to the IPO directly through the app.
Ogundipe explained that users can now access Nigerian equities, treasury bills, commercial papers, bonds and public offers from one platform.
Victor Ndukauba, deputy managing director, Afrinvest, said at the event: “Afrinvest today is well positioned for the upcoming Dangote Refinery IPO.”
The company also used the event to address the multiple trade execution issues that affected thousands of users earlier in the year.
Ndukauba explained what happened behind the scenes, saying the issue involved failures between external trading infrastructure providers and exchange systems.
“94,000 clients were affected,” he disclosed, explaining that unstable connections between systems triggered repeated order execution loops during trading sessions, forcing the company into weeks of investigations with technology providers and market infrastructure operators.
“We restored all the accounts to where it was,” he said. “Clients come first. No client would ultimately bear losses from the incident.”
During the feedback session moderated by Margaret Ofem, head of Customer Success, users challenged the company over poor communication, confusing user experience and delayed complaint resolution.
Rather than avoid the criticism, Afrinvest executives spent hours responding point by point.
Ndukauba acknowledged the challenges, adding that Afrinvest is now redesigning its support structure to scale faster during complaint spikes and improve response times across email, calls and social media.
The company also revealed that it is working on integrating banking services directly into the investment ecosystem after acquiring a microfinance banking entity.
Chioke said the integration would eventually turn the investment app into a full financial platform where users can invest and save from one account.
“The same app you’re using becomes a bank account effectively,” he said.
“There will be no firm that can offer that kind of platform because of the integration of investment and savings.”
Afrinvest executives also disclosed that discussions are ongoing around cross-border investing within Africa.
According to the firm, the goal is to eventually allow users to buy shares across markets including Ghana and Kenya from a single platform, although regulatory approvals and settlement systems are still being worked out.
“We have already done some work around making it possible for other people to invest in Nigeria,” Ogundipe said.
“So that very soon within the Afrinvest stock app, you will begin to see shares from Ghana, from Kenya.”
The company said investor education would also become a bigger priority going forward, especially as more first-time investors enter the market.
Executives admitted many Nigerians still struggle to understand how investing works, despite increased interest in stocks and wealth creation products.
Victor Ndukauba, deputy managing director of Afrinvest, said retail investing in Nigeria has changed significantly in recent years.
“A few years down the line, nobody really cared about buying stocks or buying mutual funds,” he said. “That mindset is beginning to change.”
Afrinvest intends to stay long-term, despite the recent challenges. “We are not a wonder bank, and we are here for good,” Chioke said.
“We’ve been here since 1995, 30 years, and we’ll be here for another 30 years and beyond.”
