How Moniepoint is Powering Nigeria’s $11bn Food Service Industry

Emma Okonji

A new case study by Moniepoint, Africa’s all-in-one financial ecosystem platform for individuals, businesses and their customers, has traced four decades of Nigeria’s food service industry and revealed how the sector’s most persistent payment challenges have been resolved by real-time digital infrastructure, turning food commerce into $11.09 billion market in 2025.

The study identified some of the persistent payment challenges to include: settlement delays, unreliable confirmation, unchecked theft and inaccessible credit.  

According to study, the sector has undergone a massive structural shift marked by food-delivery super-apps, with the food service industry poised to experience unprecedented growth as the Nigerian market is projected to reach $19.31 billion by 2030, growing at 11.73 per cent annually.

The study traced the industry’s roots from the UAC-owned Kingsway Rendezvous of 1973 and the 1986 launch of Mr. Biggs, through the rise of Chicken Republic and other quick-service chains, to the present day, where food and drinks form the second-largest merchant sector on Moniepoint’s platform, trailing only retail.

Analysing the study, the Group CEO of Moniepoint, Tosin Eniolorunda, said: “Moniepoint believes financial inclusion is not just about access. It’s about dignity, about enabling people to transact on their terms. What’s happening in the food service sector today is significant. The real competitive question today is how deeply that payment infrastructure is woven into the way the business actually runs day to day. Moniepoint is sitting right at the centre of that shift. We are ensuring that payments are connected to inventory, to recipes, to procurement, to credit, and to growth plans. By building out tools like Moniebook and Orda that match the operational reality of these culinary entrepreneurs, who act as mini-factories converting perishable raw materials into time-sensitive output, we are providing the digital operating system that drives sustainable scale for Nigeria’s socio-economic development.”