This week, I have had some time to review my work and experiences in the digital economy. I think about all that I have done with clients using Amazon, Etsy, Shopify, PayPal and other platforms to build the business tech stack.

It reminded me of something that bothers me about African markets.

When I look at some of the businesses that have transformed how ordinary people participate in the economy, I find myself asking why we have not seen more African versions of these digital infrastructure platforms.

Amazon.

Etsy.

Shopify.

PayPal.

ClickFunnels.

Facebook.

X.

Medium.

Substack.

Zillow.

These companies are not simply businesses selling products or services.

They provide systems that allow other people to participate.

A lot of Americans own businesses they can run from their basement because Etsy provided the infrastructure to connect retail products to customers on a as-needed basis.

Someone can create handmade products, build a small brand and access customers without needing to rent a shop in a central city.

Amazon offers this for books and products as well.

If you cannot get into traditional publishing, Kindle Direct Publishing provides an alternative. If you cannot immediately access physical retail channels, online marketplaces provide another route.

The important thing is that the infrastructure already exists.

You do not have to build the entire road before you can drive on it.

In my years of developing tech stacks for businesses, I have seen how solutions like ClickFunnels can shorten the timeline between having an idea and launching a product or campaign.

From middle-aged dads starting hair-regeneration creams for balding men to young teens selling sportswear, people can move from an idea to landing pages, email campaigns, sales funnels and marketing systems using frameworks that have already been tested.

They do not have to reinvent the entire process.

And that is what makes digital infrastructure so powerful.

It does not only solve a problem.

It changes what people believe is possible.

Sometimes infrastructure changes imagination

This is why the Uber exit story in Nigeria became such an interesting example to me.

When Uber entered Nigeria, it became a major conversation because it introduced a system that connected drivers to riders in a way many people had not previously imagined.

The interesting question is this:

If an everyday Nigerian had said they wanted to build a platform where people could request rides, track drivers, process digital payments and create a transport marketplace, would people have immediately recognised the opportunity?

Or would it have been laughed at and left gathering dust on a shelf where people keep proposals they think are too “modernised” for the real business of Africa?

This is one of the hidden powers of technology infrastructure.

Sometimes the biggest innovation is not creating a completely new human need.

It is creating the system that allows an existing need to operate at a completely different scale.

Before Uber existed, the idea sounded unusual.

After Uber existed, it became obvious.

Infrastructure often comes before imagination. What if imagination is just being sidestepped, leaving us with a lot of untapped wealth?

We have fintech, but the digital stack is still incomplete

Africa has produced some impressive fintech companies.

Paystack.

Flutterwave.

M-Pesa.

And many others.

These are examples of African companies solving real infrastructure problems.

But they also highlight how much more remains to be built.

Many African businesses still struggle to connect seamlessly with global payments and markets.

Receiving money internationally can depend on your country, currency, banking relationships, regulations and the platforms available to you.

Compare that with markets where payment infrastructure, banking systems and digital platforms are already deeply integrated into global commerce.

The challenge is not a lack of entrepreneurs.

Africa has no shortage of people with ideas.

The question is whether the infrastructure exists to allow those ideas to scale.

Our digital attention is mostly controlled elsewhere

Our social media infrastructure is largely in the hands of American companies.

Facebook.

Instagram.

YouTube.

X.

LinkedIn.

These platforms have created enormous opportunities for African creators and businesses.

But they also control much of our digital advertising ecosystem, audience distribution and the data generated from our online behaviour.

Even China managed to build TikTok into a global platform.

That achievement was not just about creating another social media app.

It was about building a global distribution system.

When your audience, advertising and data infrastructure sits on platforms owned elsewhere, you participate in the system, but you do not necessarily control the system.

Where is Africa’s Medium or Substack?

How about platforms like Medium and Substack?

Why do we not have African platforms where thought leadership across industries can rest easy, find audiences and drive innovation?

Almost like TEDx in writing, but domiciled in Africa.

TEDx became a successful franchise across African cities.

Yet, we have not created a homegrown equivalent that provides a major platform for African writers, researchers, professionals and industry leaders to share ideas.

And this is not because Africa lacks knowledge.

We have researchers.

Entrepreneurs.

Professionals.

Creators.

The question is whether we have built enough infrastructure to connect those ideas with audiences.

The cost of depending on external infrastructure

This issue is also personal for me.

Recently, my startup, Itanile: Stories of Home, began working with one of our authors on a book project.

The process has taken almost a year.

At some point, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing blocked the title without providing a clear explanation.

We could not launch the book, even though our marketing budget had already been spent on pre-launch activities.

We are still bringing the book back, and we now also have a digital version available through our own marketplace.

However, this situation reminded me why I started Itanile in the first place.

There is value in creating platforms where African stories, authors and ideas are not completely dependent on external systems.

Maybe one day we will be able to invest in print-on-demand infrastructure.

Maybe we will have our own version of Kindle designed around African authors and readers.

Maybe we will create better systems that allow African stories to move from manuscript to reader without navigating infrastructure built somewhere else.

Maybe.

But every major platform starts as a “maybe.”

Amazon was once a company selling books online.

Shopify started because founders wanted a better way to sell snowboards online.

Facebook started as a university network.

The question is not whether an idea is possible.

The question is whether enough people recognise the opportunity early enough to build it.

Property shows another opportunity

Even in property, Americans have tools like Zillow and Realtor that allow agents and property businesses to plug into existing digital ecosystems.

These platforms help with listings, discovery, marketing and consumer access.

Africa does have property platforms.

South Africa has Property24 and Private Property.

Other African countries have their own property portals.

But the bigger opportunity is not only creating property listings.

It is building deeper infrastructure around:

• property data;
• market intelligence;
• transactions;
• agent tools;
• consumer behaviour;
• financing.

This is also why it becomes easier to find and manage data.

When millions of people search, buy, sell and interact through structured platforms, those platforms create valuable information about the market.

Data then becomes the foundation for the next generation of businesses.

The opportunity is bigger than building apps

Before someone says Africans do not use phones or apps that much, the reality is more interesting.

Africa has one of the lowest internet penetration rates globally.

But because Africa has a population of more than 1.4 billion people, that still translates into hundreds of millions of internet users.

A smaller percentage of a very large population is still a massive market.

The opportunity is not waiting for Africans to come online.

A huge market is already online.

The question is:

What systems are we building for those people to participate more effectively?

I am writing this as a challenge to myself and everyone who reads it.

We have a huge market opportunity that will remain untapped so long as we do not notice the problem.

And this is not simply about building African versions of American companies.

It is not just about building apps.

It is about creating connectivity and providing accessible systems for everyone to participate in bringing their ideas to market.

The biggest opportunities may not come from asking:

“What product can I build?”

Maybe we should also ask:

“What infrastructure can I build that makes it easier for another 100,000 Africans to build theirs?”

Because the companies that shape the future may not only be the ones that sell directly to consumers.

They may be the ones that create the systems upon which millions of other businesses are built.