In just six years, Treepz has grown from moving eight passengers a day in Lagos to serving over 6 million users across five African countries.
Its operations span Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and beyond, offering corporate mobility, travel services, and park solutions that now move over 1.4 million people monthly at the CMS park in Lagos alone.
The company recently made a commendable entry into North America, launching in Brampton, Canada, a region with hundreds of thousands of corporate workers, including employees at Amazon and PetSmart.
This move comes after three years of strategic planning, board approvals, and partnerships with Canadian stakeholders, including the mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, who famously said: “If you can do this in Lagos, you can do this anywhere in the world.”
But the journey has been far from smooth. From surviving COVID-19 shutdowns just six months after launch, while holding loans on 17 brand-new buses they couldn’t use, to restructuring into a self-sustaining business with zero asset ownership and five revenue streams, Treepz has had to learn, adapt, and outlast the challenges that kill most startups.
In this exclusive conversation with Techeconomy, Onyeka Akumah, co-founder and CEO of Treepz, opens up about expansion into Canada, the lessons Lagos taught him, scaling across Africa, and his vision to make Treepz a truly global corporate travel platform.
TE: Treepz recently launched in Canada. Why Brampton as the starting point for your North American expansion?
Onyeka: We first got into Toronto in 2021 during our demo day, and that’s when Brampton’s team showed interest. I met with the mayor, and he was excited about bringing Treepz to Canada from the Brampton region. But we weren’t ready, our priority was still to expand across African markets.
By late 2024, after a board meeting, we decided the time was right. Brampton made sense because we had their full support since 2021. We also went through accelerator programmes, including the Beehive Programme and the World Trade Centre in Toronto, before securing our first corporate client. Brampton has a huge corporate workforce—Amazon, PetSmart, and others—making it a perfect entry point.
TE: This sounds seamless, but I know market entry is never without challenges. How did you navigate them?
Onyeka: Expanding anywhere means dealing with new people, rules, and systems. In Africa, we entered Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya through acquisitions. That gave us the right people and local knowledge.
For Canada, my co-founders had been in Toronto for a while, building relationships and meeting stakeholders. The North American market is structured, regulations are clear, and other players have already paved the way. Unlike Nigeria, where we had to work with the government to create the regulatory framework, in Canada we only needed to meet existing requirements and carve out our niche.
TE: There’s a quote linked to this launch — “If you can handle traffic in Lagos, you can handle it anywhere”. What lessons from Lagos shaped your global strategy?
Onyeka: That quote came from Mayor Patrick Brown. He’s been to Lagos, so he knows what it takes to operate there. Lagos was our proving ground—moving from eight people a day to 10,000 took years of patience. The challenges in Nigeria forced us to innovate under tough conditions. If we could build something sustainable there, we could make it succeed in more structured markets like Canada.
TE: Treepz operates in five countries with over 6 million users. What have been your biggest challenges scaling across Africa?
Onyeka: COVID-19 was the first and almost fatal challenge. We were just six months old with 17 brand-new buses and loans to pay, yet we couldn’t move anyone for 10 months.
The second was finding and retaining the right talent. We expanded into new countries by adopting an “acqui-hire” strategy, acquiring local competitors in countries like Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya to speed entry into new markets, but people challenges followed, as top talent left for higher-paying jobs abroad.
The third was the funding drought, forcing Treepz to restructure in 2023. We shifted from asset ownership to an aggregation model and reduced dependency on investors. By late 2024, we became self-sustaining—paying salaries and bills from revenue. That gave us the freedom to focus on growth without constant fundraising pressure.
TE: If another pandemic like COVID-19 happens, are you ready?
Onyeka: Yes. In 2019 we were asset-heavy, today we own zero vehicles but operate over 100 in Nigeria alone. We’ve gone from one revenue channel to five, and our geographic spread means if one market suffers, another can support it. We also operate fully remote now, with structures that adapt quickly. If another pandemic comes today, God forbid, we can hedge that risk now, and we’re better positioned as a business.
TE: Why start your Canadian operations with corporate and institutional travel, instead of everyday commuters?
Onyeka: It’s about entry points. Our first Canadian client needed corporate travel, so we began there. Over time, we’ll replicate Nigeria’s daily corporate commute model.
In Nigeria and Kenya, over 5,000 employees use Treepz daily to get to work, and we move over 1.4 million people through CMS Park each month. Canada will follow a similar multi-channel revenue approach.
TE: What does your expansion mean for African startups aiming for regulated markets like Canada?
Onyeka: Build locally first, experiment, and set up proper structures, including corporate governance. Have a board or advisors to challenge your decisions. Get the right team — and if you hire wrong, correct it fast. Dream big, but start small. The world is waiting for African businesses that can deliver at a global standard.
TE: Finally, what’s your long-term vision for Treepz?
Onyeka: To become a world-class corporate travel business serving millions globally. We’ve started in Africa, now North America; next is Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Treepz turns six in September, but by the time we are 10, I want us moving 100,000 people daily to work and back. I want everyone — our team, investors, and customers — to look back and say, “We built something amazing that started in Lagos and went global.”
