A few years ago, the idea that Nigerian creators could earn billions of naira selling digital products seemed far-fetched. Today, it is reality. Over the past year, just four local startups collectively paid out more than ₦15 billion to creators, signalling that Nigeria’s creator economy is finally gaining serious momentum.
Leading the pack is Selar, a decade-old platform that disbursed over ₦14 billion in 2025 alone and now hosts nearly 400,000 creators. However, newer players like Nestuge, Youfanly, and AllAccessFans are quietly building their own traction, proving that creators are increasingly willing to trust homegrown monetisation tools.
Much of the growth can be traced back to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns pushed many Nigerians to explore income beyond traditional employment, and the success of early digital creators showed that selling knowledge and digital products could indeed pay. Selar’s transparency around payouts helped to legitimize the market in a space previously dominated by scepticism and “too-good-to-be-true” claims.
Founders are taking note too. Selar CEO Douglas Kendyson sees the rising competition as healthy, likening it to the early Paystack–Flutterwave rivalry that normalised online payments in Nigeria. Nelson Eze, CEO of Nestuge, agrees, noting that December 2025 marked the platform’s best month yet, and Selar’s scale gave his team confidence to raise their ambitions.
Still, both founders caution that Nigeria’s creator economy is far from mature. No local creator platform has yet crossed $1 million in annual revenue, and creators remain quick to switch platforms if dissatisfied.
The upside, however, is enormous. As more platforms compete and the bar for payouts and services rises, the Nigerian creator economy is entering a promising growth phase that could redefine digital entrepreneurship in the country.
