How 26-Year-Old Adaugo Ezeala is Powering Africa’s SME Revolution with AI and Smart Social Commerce

In 2024, at just 26 years old, Adaugo Godsgift Ezeala emerged as one of Nigeria’s most compelling young innovators, building SokoSQ, a transformative platform that reimagines how small businesses across the continent sell, grow, and scale in a digital-first world.

As Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of SokoSQ, Adaugo leads the company’s growth, product vision, and go-to-market strategy. The platform offers AI-powered online stores that can be set up in minutes, fully integrated with Instagram, WhatsApp, and in-person channels, while providing powerful tools for inventory, sales tracking, marketing automation, and business analytics. In a region where over 80% of SMEs still rely on informal or semi-digital sales channels, SokoSQ delivers a seamless, scalable alternative.

Within months of launching in 2024, SokoSQ onboarded 1000 small businesses and approached ₦1 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV). Business owners describe the platform as fast, intuitive, and built for their needs, empowering them to manage operations, sell online, and run targeted marketing without hiring technical teams. One early user noted the platform in a Google review as “fast, easy to operate and stress free”
Adaugo’s innovation is grounded in firsthand experience. Before founding SokoSQ, she spent years leading business growth and marketing at African startups. At Babybliss, then one of Nigeria’s leading e-commerce platforms, she headed the digital marketing team through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping the company navigate uncertainty and achieve over $2 million in sales during her tenure. Her leadership directly contributed to a 30% revenue increase.

At Towntalk Solutions, a data and AI company, Adaugo served as Head of Growth. Under her leadership, the company experienced revenue growth and increased brand visibility. She led repositioning efforts that helped Towntalk secure a spot in the prestigious Techstars Accelerator, unlocking a $120,000 investment and positioning the startup for global scale.

Her campaigns across roles have consistently delivered strong ROI, and tens of thousands of customer acquisitions. She also ran two retail ventures, gaining deep insight into the everyday challenges of African SMEs.
That insight drives SokoSQ’s product direction. The platform doesn’t just digitize businesses, it helps them grow. Features include AI-powered marketing and growth tools. These tools, embedded in a no-code interface, enable microbusinesses to compete with larger players.

To ensure relevance, Adaugo led efforts to survey over 6,000 SMEs across Nigeria through WhatsApp communities and hands-on interviews. Their feedback shaped everything, from store designs to dashboard analytics and payment flows. Today, SokoSQ operates as an AI-powered business HQ for African entrepreneurs.

The company is currently in partnership discussions with a Nigerian bank to enable SME-focused financial infrastructure. Its roadmap includes integrated logistics, diaspora tools for global sellers, and support for cross-border payments, positioning SokoSQ as a vital bridge between local businesses and global markets.
With ambitions to reach over 100,000 SMEs in the next two years across Africa, the UK, and the US, Adaugo is scaling not just a platform, but a movement. Her thought leadership around AI, commerce, and SME enablement continues to inspire the ecosystem through articles, public talks, and community-building efforts.

From DM-based selling to data-powered scaling, Adaugo Ezeala is redefining what’s possible for African entrepreneurs and building the infrastructure that will power their future.