• Discovery: TikTok’s algorithm gives African brands viral exposure, while Instagram’s reach is flattening.
• Conversion: Instagram still converts better per customer; TikTok is on top-of-funnel reach.
• Payment Friction: TikTok’s checkout is inconsistent across African markets; Instagram relies on external sites.
• Trust & Logistics: Delivery delays and refund issues still affect trust in both, but brands report fewer challenges from Instagram-driven sales.

When it comes to eCommerce, we could say every brand is pushing, but not everyone’s cart rolls straight.

In 2025, over 500 million Africans are projected to shop online, but most of those purchases still happen through social media posts, not dedicated e-commerce stores. 

TikTok and Instagram are now the continent’s foremost markets. But let’s look beyond viral reach and revenue, which one actually closes the sale?

Nigeria specifically, has become the testing ground for social commerce. According to DataReportal, Instagram had 9.90 million users in Nigeria in early 2025, representing about 4.2% of the population. Meanwhile, TikTok had an estimated 37.4 million users aged 18+ in Nigeria early 2025, roughly 30% of adults. 

Instagram’s reach is declining in Nigeria (down ~20% year-on-year), while TikTok is expanding. That alone shows a shift in where brands might focus.

This means that platform reach is important, but sales depend on much more, including checkout flows, trust, logistics, and discovery mechanics. I set out to test five key questions:

Hypotheses

1. Which platform converts followers into paying customers more reliably in Africa?
2. Which platform delivers higher average order value (AOV) and repeat purchase rate?
3. How do discovery algorithms and content formats affect buyer intent?
4. Which platform offers less friction at checkout/payment/delivery?
5. In the African market context, which is a better target for ad spend and ROI?

Platform features & mechanics

Discovery & organic reach
TikTok’s feed mechanics (“For You Page”) prioritise virality, short videos can reach thousands of users quickly. In Kenya, for example, TikTok ad reach grew by 42.7% between 2024 and 2025. Instagram, however, is showing decline in Nigeria: a 20.2% drop in potential ad reach year-on-year.

This means TikTok gives better odds for organic discovery of a product if your content hits. Instagram still gives reach, but the ceiling is lower, particularly for newer brands.

Product catalogue, storefront & listing mechanics

Instagram Shops allow brands to tag products in posts and run a “Shop” tab as part of their profile. It is integrated with Meta’s Commerce Manager. However, Meta has announced changes to checkout flows which may impact how brands handle fulfilment. 

TikTok Shop provides in-app product pages, live shopping and creator affiliate integration. That said: in Africa the full commerce layer is patchy. For example, according to analysis, TikTok Shop in Nigeria lacks unified mobile wallet integration, in-app checkout remains inconsistent, and there are logistics challenges.

So while TikTok offers the outline for a full commerce funnel, real-world readiness in many African markets is still a limitation.

Checkout & payments (friction) 

On Instagram: many brands in Africa still redirect from Instagram to an external website, which adds steps and drop-off risk. On TikTok: the approach is seamless checkout. 

However, in Nigeria local challenges like fragmented mobile money systems, low average order values (under $20), and weak refund/charge-back infrastructure, hit TikTok.

The result is that brands on TikTok may gain discovery but still have friction converting to payment. On Instagram, the payment model may be more stable, but you trade off some discovery and virality.

Ads & promotion mechanics (paid performance)
Paid ads on Instagram are mature; brands know how to optimise them. On TikTok, ad formats are newer, creative demands are higher (video must hook fast), and scaling spend usually drops return on ad spend (ROAS). One advertiser reported ROAS dropping from 10× to below 2× when scaling TikTok spend. 

Thus: TikTok shop may give high ROAS at low spend (if content works), but scaling remains tricky; Instagram offers more predictable paid behaviour, but with less surprise upside.

Creator & influencer ecosystem
Tick any brand box and you’ll find the creator economy of Africa is booming. Many small brands turn to TikTok creators to drive sales. However brand-creator commerce models still suffer from limitations: limited payout options, regional eligibility issues, and tracking problems. 

Instagram still offers stable influencer collaborations, but at higher cost and less immediate conversion.

Logistics, delivery & returns
Logistics in many African markets is challenging. The World Bank Logistics Performance Index places Nigeria 88th globally. That means delivery delays, cost increases, and return friction. 

For commerce platforms that promise quick delivery or live-shopping impulses (like TikTok), these infrastructure gaps matter. Instagram-driven sales sometimes redirect to brands’ website or to offline pickup models, slower but more predictable.

Trust, fraud & safety
Buyer trust is essential. On platforms where checkout is embedded, buyer protection and refund policies impact how comfortable people are with purchase. 

TikTok still has service gaps in Africa on refunds/charge-backs. Instagram brands usually have to rely on external fulfilment but benefit from Meta’s brand association and existing user familiarity. 

For African brands, Instagram Shops currently provide more predictability of sales, albeit at a lower growth ceiling. TikTok Shop offers greater upside, especially if your content catches, but also greater risk, especially around payment and fulfilment.

Practical playbook for African brands

Here is what I advise based on brand size, product type and infrastructure readiness:

• Micro-brand (cash-strapped, low inventory): Use TikTok for discovery, produce highly native content, use local creators, accept low AOV but aim for volume. Ensure you have a reliable fulfilment partner or localised dispatch strategy.
• Medium brand (some inventory, higher AOV): Use Instagram Shops for steady performance; invest in paid ads + retargeting; use TikTok for top-of-funnel awareness but send conversion through Instagram or website.
• Export-focussed brand: Use TikTok to tap international viral potential, but ensure checkout/payment/fulfilment are export-ready. Use Instagram and your site to manage repeat customers and higher order value purchases.
• Way forward (90-day roadmap):
  1. Audit your checkout and fulfilment set-up (payment, shipping, returns).
  2. Run a small TikTok test campaign (budget ~5–10% of monthly marketing) tracking CAC, ROAS, AOV, repeat rate.
  3. Parallel: optimise Instagram Shop tags + retargeting ad flow.
  4. Compare metrics after 30, 60, 90 days. Make decision: focus where ROI is stronger, with platform backup.

Policy, payments & infrastructure implications

There’s a bigger story here. Meta (Instagram’s parent) announced changes to its in-app checkout policy which will impact how African brands operate Instagram Shops. For TikTok, payment rail fragmentation and logistics delays are key constraints. 

In markets like Nigeria where delivery infrastructure is weaker, impulse live-commerce still runs into friction. Brands must understand that platform mechanics are only part of the equation, external factors (payments, shipping, refunds) matter just as much.

Risks, limitations & open questions

• Platform data transparency is limited: public GMV figures for TikTok Shop in Africa are sparse.
• Rapid changes: platform policies, country-eligibility of features, and logistic networks evolve fast, data is date-sensitive.
• Infrastructure gaps: rural markets in Africa still have slower internet, higher shipping costs, which may bias results toward urban centres.

If I were to sum this up: TikTok Shop gives the bigger chance for African brands to break out and scale, especially if you’ve got creative content and basic infrastructure in place. 

But for most brands right now, Instagram Shops brings the safer path, with a more stable ecosystem, predictable performance and higher order values.

My recommendation: Do not pick one and ignore the other. Use TikTok for discovery and volume, and Instagram as your conversion engine, unless you have the logistics and payment setup to fully exploit live commerce for your online shop at scale.

For the next 90 days: test both Instagram and TikTok Shop, measure CAC, conversion, repeat purchase and scale what works. In Africa’s social commerce space of 2025, the brands who win will be the ones who combine creative reach with flawless execution.

The post Instagram Shops vs TikTok Shop: Where Are African Brands Finding Real Sales? appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The company will start notifying users of the update from October 7, 2025, via in-app alerts and emails.

This extends Meta’s long-standing personalisation model. Until now, likes, follows, and other platform activity determined what appeared in feeds and which ads were served. Soon, exchanges with Meta AI, whether by text or voice, will be added as another layer of data.

“If you chat with Meta AI about hiking, we may learn that you’re interested in hiking — just as we would if you posted a reel about hiking or liked a hiking-related Page,” the company explained. That information could then be reflected in feed suggestions, such as recommended groups, trail updates from friends, or targeted ads for hiking gear.

Meta says that conversations covering sensitive topics such as religion, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, will not be used to target ads. “People’s interactions simply are going to be another piece of the input that will inform the personalisation of feeds and ads,” said Christy Harris, Meta’s privacy policy manager.

The change applies to those who actively use Meta AI across its apps, which already has over 1 billion monthly users worldwide. If accounts are linked in Meta’s Accounts Center, interactions on one app (for example, WhatsApp) may be used to personalise experiences on others, such as Facebook or Instagram. However, encrypted chats will remain unaffected.

Again, users will not be able to opt out of this new data use, though Meta emphasises that tools like Ads Preferences and feed controls will still allow people to manage how recommendations appear.

The rollout excludes the United Kingdom, European Union, and South Korea, where regulatory restrictions remain in place.

The update comes as tech firms increase efforts to monetise AI. Google and Amazon have begun introducing AI-driven services tied to advertising and cloud products, but Meta’s approach, using everyday conversations with its AI assistant as ad signals across multiple platforms, is one of the most extensive attempts yet.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that personalisation is essential to the company’s AI roadmap. At a recent shareholder meeting, he stated that this year’s focus is on “deepening the experience and making Meta AI the leading personal AI with an emphasis on personalisation, voice conversations and entertainment.”

The post Meta to Use AI Conversations for Personalised Ads from December appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This follows thousands of questionable ads bypassing Meta’s screening process and appearing across Facebook and Instagram.

Between 1st and 14th January 2025 alone, CrushAI reportedly managed to push over 8,000 ads for its so-called “AI undresser” through Meta’s platforms. These ads linked users to sites that used artificial image manipulation to simulate nudity. 

Most of the app’s traffic, around 90%, according to Alexios Mantzarlis of the Faked Up newsletter, came directly from Meta-owned platforms.

The scale and frequency of these violations are not only a policy breach but a direct attack on user safety and digital dignity. Meta says it repeatedly removed these ads, but Joy Timeline HK continued, setting up new accounts and domains faster than the company could block them. 

In one case, ad accounts appeared under names like “Eraser Annyone’s Clothes” with a rotating list of numeric identifiers.

“I flagged several of these websites to Meta myself,” Mantzarlis wrote in January, highlighting how even public reporting didn’t immediately stop the flood of inappropriate content.

Meta’s frustration appears to have reached a boiling point. The lawsuit is a shift from internal enforcement to legal confrontation. It also notes a recognition that digital safety measures must evolve faster to deal with bad actors who are usually more agile and less bound by ethical or legal constraints.

These “nudify” tools have become a a challenge across the internet. Platforms like X, Reddit, YouTube, and even app stores have seen a surge in such services, with ads targeting users indiscriminately. 

TikTok and Meta have both banned search terms like “nudify” and “undress,” but policing this content has proven far more difficult in practice.

To stay ahead, Meta says it has built new detection systems capable of identifying problematic ads even when no explicit imagery is used. These systems use matching technology and a larger database of flagged terms and symbols to uncover deceptive ad content that previously went undetected.

The company is also disrupting coordinated ad networks. Since January 2025, Meta claims it has dismantled four major clusters of fake advertiser accounts promoting nudify services. These operations mirrored tactics used by disinformation and fraud networks, rapid domain switching, coordinated accounts, and evasion of AI filters.

“Today, we’ve filed a lawsuit against the entity behind CrushAI and are taking other steps to clamp down on nudify apps,” Meta said in a statement. “We have strict rules against non-consensual intimate imagery – whether it’s real or AI-generated – including the promotion of nudify apps.”

Meta has begun sharing intelligence with other tech companies through the Tech Coalition’s Lantern programme, a partnership involving platforms like Google and Snap to tackle child exploitation. Since March, Meta has supplied more than 3,800 offending URLs for review and takedown.

The firm is also lobbying for stronger legislative frameworks. In the U.S., Meta backed the Take It Down Act, which gives parents more control over app downloads and aims to limit children’s exposure to harmful tools.

The company says it’s working closely with lawmakers to put these measures into effect globally.

The post Meta Sues CrushAI Over Invasive ‘Nudify’ Ads appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.