LagosEase.com

Pay Nigerian suppliers as easily as local ones

Score: 7.5/10South AfricaMedium BuildReady to Spawn
Brand Colors

The Opportunity

Problem

South African businesses face more friction, delays, and administrative complexity paying suppliers in Lagos than in London.

Solution

LagosEase automates the entire SA-to-NG payment workflow including forex, regulatory compliance, document generation, and settlement tracking. It connects directly to Paystack and local Nigerian rails for faster clearing than traditional banks while maintaining full audit trails for SARB requirements. South African importers eliminate weeks of back-and-forth and reduce administrative overhead by 80%.

Target Audience

South African businesses and importers trading with Nigerian suppliers

Differentiator

The only platform hyper-specialized in the South Africa-Nigeria trade corridor with pre-mapped compliance rules for both CBN and SARB that updates automatically when regulations change.

Brand Voice

supportive

Features

Payment Initiator

must-have35h

One-form interface to create, review compliance, and send payments to saved Nigerian suppliers

Compliance Engine

must-have65h

Automatically validates payments against current SARB, CBN, and customs rules with document checklist

Live Payment Tracker

must-have40h

Real-time visibility into payment status with push and email notifications

Supplier Vault

must-have25h

Secure database of Nigerian suppliers with bank details, tax IDs, and past performance

Auto Document Generator

must-have50h

Creates compliant invoices, SAD500 forms, and proof-of-payment certificates

Reconciliation Dashboard

must-have45h

Matches payments to purchase orders and flags discrepancies automatically

Forex Rate Alerts

nice-to-have30h

Monitors Naira/Rand rates and notifies when favorable windows appear

Team Workspaces

nice-to-have55h

Role-based access for finance, procurement, and management teams

Xero Integration

nice-to-have60h

Two-way sync with Xero and Sage accounting platforms

Bulk Payment Upload

future40h

CSV upload and approval workflow for high-volume importers

Total Build Time: 445 hours

Database Schema

users

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
emailtextNo
business_nametextNo
cipc_numbertextYes
is_verifiedboolNo
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • payments.user_id references users.id
  • suppliers.user_id references users.id

suppliers

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
user_iduuidNo
nametextNo
nigerian_banktextNo
account_numbertextNo
tax_idtextYes
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • belongs to users via user_id
  • payments.supplier_id references suppliers.id

payments

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
user_iduuidNo
supplier_iduuidNo
amount_centsintNo
currencytextNo
statustextNo
paystack_referencetextYes
compliance_passedboolNo
created_attimestampNo
completed_attimestampYes

Relationships:

  • references users and suppliers

documents

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
payment_iduuidNo
document_typetextNo
file_urltextYes
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • references payments via payment_id

API Endpoints

POST
/api/payments

Create and validate new payment

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/payments

List all user payments with filters

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/suppliers

Retrieve user's saved suppliers

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/compliance/check

Run real-time compliance validation

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/webhooks/paystack

Receive payment status updates from Paystack

Tech Stack

Frontend
Next.js 14, Tailwind, shadcn/ui, Tanstack Query
Backend
Next.js API Routes + Zod
Database
PostgreSQL on AWS RDS
Auth
Clerk
Payments
Paystack
Hosting
Vercel (frontend), Render (background workers)
Additional Tools
Pusher for realtimeResend for transactional emailsSentry

Build Timeline

Week 1: Foundation and auth

38h
  • Project setup
  • Clerk + database schema
  • Landing page
  • Basic dashboard UI

Week 2: Supplier management

32h
  • Supplier CRUD
  • Secure vault encryption
  • Import from CSV

Week 3: Payment core flow

45h
  • Payment creation form
  • Compliance engine MVP
  • Paystack integration

Week 4: Document generation and tracking

42h
  • PDF generation service
  • Live tracker UI
  • Webhook handler

Week 5: Dashboard, reports and polish

35h
  • Reconciliation dashboard
  • Export tools
  • Email notifications

Week 6: Testing, compliance and launch prep

28h
  • Beta testing with 8 companies
  • Documentation
  • Landing page optimization
Total Timeline: 6 weeks • 280 hours

Pricing Tiers

Starter

$0/mo

5 payments/month

  • 5 payments per month
  • Basic tracking
  • Email support

Pro

$25/mo

None

  • Unlimited payments
  • Full compliance engine
  • Document generation
  • Live tracking
  • Reports

Business

$89/mo

None

  • Everything in Pro
  • Team seats
  • Xero integration
  • Priority support
  • API access
  • Dedicated compliance manager

Revenue Projections

MonthUsersConversionMRRARR
Month 19511%$261$3,132
Month 672017%$3,060$36,720

Unit Economics

$42
CAC
$680
LTV
4.5%
Churn
81%
Margin
LTV:CAC Ratio: 16.2xExcellent!

Landing Page Copy

Pay Suppliers in Lagos Without the London Price Tag

Automate compliance, documents, and tracking so you can pay Nigerian partners faster than ever before.

Feature Highlights

80% less admin time per payment
Built for SARB & CBN rules
Real-time visibility dashboard
Instant document generation
Paystack-powered settlement

Social Proof (Placeholders)

"'We went from 18 days to 2 days per payment cycle' — Procurement Lead, Durban Imports"
"'The compliance engine caught an error that would have cost us R47k' — CFO, Johannesburg Trading"
"'Finally a tool that understands African trade, not just copy-paste from Europe' — CEO, Cape Importers"

First Three Customers

Target South African importers via LinkedIn Sales Navigator using keywords 'Nigeria importer' and 'Lagos supplier'. Offer lifetime Pro access for the first three businesses that complete 10 payments and agree to be case studies. Join and actively participate in the 'South Africa Nigeria Business Forum' on Facebook and offer beta access to active members. Attend the next virtual AfCFTA trade webinar and offer exclusive early access.

Launch Channels

ProductHuntIndieHackersr/SaaSLinkedIn African Trade groupsTwitter #AfricaFintechSouth Africa Nigeria Chamber of Commerce newsletter

SEO Keywords

pay nigerian suppliers from south africasa to nigeria cross border paymentslagos supplier payment platformsouth africa nigeria compliance automationeasy payments to lagos

Competitive Analysis

Percentage fee
Strength

Excellent FX rates and speed

Weakness

Generic compliance, no specialized SA-NG document automation

Our Advantage

Purpose-built regulatory engine and document generation for this exact corridor

Flutterwave

flutterwave.com
Per transaction
Strength

Strong Nigerian payout infrastructure

Weakness

Built for receiving money, weak payer dashboard and SA compliance

Our Advantage

Complete payer experience with full SARB reporting tools

🏰 Moat Strategy

Proprietary compliance rule database that improves with every transaction plus deep banking partnerships in both countries that are hard to replicate.

⏰ Why Now?

AfCFTA implementation, maturing bank APIs in both countries, and exploding e-commerce trade creating urgent need for specialized tools.

Risks & Mitigation

legalhigh severity

Sudden regulatory change in Nigeria or South Africa

Mitigation

Modular compliance system with automated alerts from legal partners and easy update paths

marketmedium severity

Businesses hesitant to trust new payment platform with money

Mitigation

Start with small test payments, offer Paystack guarantees, and publish transparent security audits

executionmedium severity

Solo developer bottleneck on support

Mitigation

Build excellent self-serve docs and automated compliance checker to reduce support volume

Validation Roadmap

pre-build12 days

Interview 25 SA importers about current payment friction

Success: At least 18 confirm spending >4 hours per payment and would pay $25/mo

mvp45 days

Private beta with first 12 users making real payments

Success: Minimum 8 users complete 5+ payments and give NPS >7

launch30 days

Public launch on ProductHunt and LinkedIn

Success: 50 paid users within 30 days of launch

Pivot Options

  • Expand to Kenya and Ghana corridors
  • Offer working capital financing using payment history
  • White label compliance engine for banks

Quick Stats

Build Time
280h
Target MRR (6 mo)
$4,500
Market Size
$52.0M
Features
10
Database Tables
4
API Endpoints
5