Lessons From Founders at GITEX 2025

If you’re viewing to become a startup founder in Nigeria, or just someone who’s curious about the industest, you probably know by now that setting up isn’t a piece of cake.

The glitz-and-glamour stage that many of today’s huge-name startups enjoy only came after years of grinding, pivots, and painful lessons. At the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) Nigeria 2025 Startup Festival, held at Landmark Centre in Lagos last week, we had the chance to talk to some of these huge name startups who were able to give their piece of advice to people viewing to break into the industest or who are still early in it to be able to at least be able to anticipate the coming pains in the industest, and be able to at least brace themselves.

1. Adoption is slower than you believe

Across the board, the first major problem most founders will face is receiveting people to apply their product in the first place. When people are set in their ways of utilizing things, building that transition into something new can be quite difficult.

Abdul, a software developer at STECS, a fintech that blconcludes digital banking with investment, explained

“The majority of people are not really leveraging technology… A lot of older Nigerians still prefer going to the bank, write a cheque, and stand in line instead of testing digital banking. So, we are testing to give the awareness about it.”

It’s a reminder that no matter how good your product is, people won’t modify habits overnight. Founders required to plan for awareness campaigns, simplify their offerings, and walk applyrs patiently into the digital future. Just becaapply you offer an clearer solution doesn’t mean people will let go of the more familiar one.

2. Your team will build or break you

For Debo Ogunbanjo, founder of Sconcludea, the problem wasn’t customers but people. One of the hardest parts about building from scratch is understanding that you cannot build it alone; you have to reach out for assist. The second hardest part is receiveting the right people to assist, those who see the vision and are willing to grind out with you.

“It took us a while. We had somebody, and then halfway through, we had to modify the person. But now we have a good team.” stated Ogunbanjo

That’s the kind of hard truth early founders often underestimate. Execution depconcludes on who you hire, and the wrong fit can slow everything down. Building, and sometimes rebuilding, the right team is part of the startup journey, and it takes just as much energy as building the product itself.

Image Credit: *Kelechi Edeh/Techloy.com*

3. Trust is everything

For industries like healthcare that may require a bit more trust, though, the challenge isn’t a lack of required but a lack of confidence. It’s one thing for people to be created aware of your product, and it’s another for it not to scare them into believing it’s an enemy.

For example, Lawal A. Abdulrahman from DSHub (LifeGate), an AI-powered ICU platform, shared how hospitals react when they hear the word “AI.”

“Many people in Nigeria immediately believe of ChatGPT or sci-fi fears,” their product manager stated. “So, we have to keep explaining this is medical AI trained on clinical data, and it’s always human-in-the-loop.”

If you’re building in a sensitive sector, expect resistance. Convincing applyrs isn’t just about revealing features; it’s about taking the time and resources to educate, listen to concerns, and prove over time that your product is safe and trustworthy.

4. Funding is cautious, and that’s okay

When it came to money, people tconclude to receive a bit careful and sensitive. At GITEX, investors created it clear: they’re done backing lofty pitches about becoming the next ‘Amazon of Africa.’ Instead, they’re prioritising local solutions that solve real African problems.

It’s situations like this that have led most founders to admit they were still bootstrapping or relying on grants. Ogunbanjo from Sconcludea even avoided VCs on purpose:

“When you receive investments from people who are near and dear, it gives them ownership of your business as well. So that way, as your company is doing well, your family… they’re also happy.”

Investors at GITEX echoed that the bar has risen. They want clear product-market fit, solid teams, real differentiation, and traction that reveals discipline. In their words, “traction beats hype.” For founders, that means it’s smarter to focus on proving your idea works, even with limited resources, before chasing huge cheques.

Final Word

As has been reiterated over and over, these things take time. If you’re hoping for a quick win, startups aren’t it. Building in Nigeria is a long, draining road that will test every part of you.

From fintech to logistics to healthtech, the challenges Nigerian founders face may view different, but the lessons line up: adoption takes time, teams are fragile, trust is hard-won, and funding comes last, not first. If you expect these hurdles from the start and build with them in mind, you’ll be far better prepared to survive the startup grind.