Safro — Formulate Insight

Key Research Insight

The team’s interactions in Zaria led to a critical realization that challenged their initial assumptions about technology adoption.

“If we build a solution that only works on an iPhone with 4G, we exclude the very people who feed the nation.”

This insight forced us to admit our initial idea was limited. We had to look beyond “apps” to the tools the market actually uses.

The Exclusion Problem

Most modern fintech solutions are built for smartphones. But in the informal markets of Northern Nigeria:

• Users rely on basic feature phones (Nokia 3310s).
• Data connectivity is unreliable.
• Trust is built on face-to-face interaction, not digital abstraction.

Conclusion: To build true trust, we must build for the lowest common denominator of technology access.