Nigerian Developers Earn Over $1m From Locally Built Apps — NOTAP
Nigerian software developers have generated more than $1 million in sales from locally developed applications sold across domestic and regional markets, the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has said.
The Director-General of NOTAP, Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, attributing the milestone to targeted government interventions supporting innovation, intellectual property protection, and market access.
Amadiobi said the growth recorded by local developers was largely driven by deliberate NOTAP initiatives aimed at building technical capacity, safeguarding intellectual property rights, and linking innovators to viable commercial opportunities.
According to her, many Nigerian developers previously struggled to move their ideas from conception to impact because they failed to secure intellectual property protection early enough.
“Whether it is a literary work, a laboratory invention, or a creative digital product, the process of bringing an idea to life demands immense time, skill, and dedication,” she said.
“An innovator might wake up with a solution to a pressing problem, spend months testing and refining it, and achieve remarkable results. It is their fundamental right to patent that creation and claim ownership.”
She warned that failure to protect intellectual property exposes Nigerian innovations to exploitation, noting that unprotected ideas could easily be copied, patented by others, and legally controlled outside their original creators.
On the revenue breakdown, the NOTAP boss said the $1 million milestone was generated from over 50 locally developed applications, with individual developers earning between $5,000 and $80,000.
She listed some of the high-performing solutions to include a mobile health platform serving about 750,000 users across six states, an agricultural marketplace connecting smallholder farmers to buyers, and an educational technology tool adopted by 200 schools to improve learning outcomes.
Amadiobi added that about 60 per cent of the total sales recorded last year came from other African countries, reflecting strong regional demand for Nigerian-built software solutions.
She disclosed that NOTAP plans to double local software sales by 2027, with a focus on high-growth sectors such as financial technology, renewable energy management, and climate adaptation tools.
However, Amadiobi identified digital piracy and counterfeiting as major obstacles to growth in the ICT sector, warning that unauthorised duplication continues to undermine innovation.
“From copied software applications to replicated content on social platforms like TikTok, unauthorised duplication has become a major barrier to growth,” she said.
“We see talented young creators develop unique digital content or tools, only to watch others rebrand and profit from their work within weeks.”
She noted that many online creators with distinctive styles remain unaware that their work can be protected through intellectual property registration.
According to her, these challenges informed NOTAP’s multi-pronged intervention strategy, with the Local Vendor Policy serving as a central pillar. The policy requires foreign technology firms operating in Nigeria to partner with local companies and allocate a portion of their technical service fees to domestic vendors.
She explained that the policy has helped local developers transition from support roles for foreign firms to building competitive homegrown products capable of succeeding in regional and global markets.
NOTAP, she said, remains committed to promoting local technology development and protecting intellectual property, adding that the agency has issued over 340 patent certificates to researchers, institutions, and innovators since its inception.
Recently, the agency presented patent certificates to 21 Nigerian innovators for solutions addressing societal challenges and driving economic growth, including innovations in renewable energy, power equipment, and electrical development.
Amadiobi said strengthening intellectual property protection remains critical to reducing unauthorised copying, attracting investment, and ensuring that Nigerian innovators fully benefit from their cr
