How integrating vocational institutions helped formalise artisans, improve service delivery

As Nigeria’s digital economy expands beyond fintech into everyday services, trust and scale remain key challenges for platform-based marketplaces.

This is particularly evident in the home services sector, where fragmented supply chains, informal labour and uneven service standards have slowed growth.

During the Lagos expansion of Clickafix Nigeria Limited, a partnership-led growth strategy helped address these gaps.

A central figure in this process was Precious Akpan, who served as Head of Partnerships at Clickafix Nigeria Limited during the company’s shift from a regional pilot to a Lagos-scale digital marketplace.

Her focus was on building institutional and training partnerships to strengthen supply, improve service standards and build user confidence.

The platform connects service seekers with skilled artisans through a structured, technology-enabled system.

With standardised onboarding and quality checks, such platforms offer artisans access to organised demand while providing users with more predictable service outcomes.

Rather than depending on informal onboarding, Akpan developed a supply growth model linked to vocational institutions, technical training centres and professional networks.

“Technology on its own doesn’t solve trust,” Akpan said during the expansion period. “Sustainable scale comes from investing in partnerships that improve skills, accountability, and service consistency across the marketplace.”

These partnerships also supported the gradual formalisation of parts of Nigeria’s informal labour market. Trained service providers were integrated into a digital system with clear performance standards, improving fulfilment and widening artisans’ participation in the digital economy.

“Many artisans already have the skills,” Akpan noted.

“What they often lack is access to structured demand and systems that support long-term growth.”

Beyond operations, Akpan represented the company in public forums and stakeholder engagements, highlighting how trust, quality assurance and partnerships can support marketplace growth in urban centres.

The Lagos expansion shows that scaling digital marketplaces in Nigeria depends not only on technology, but on deliberate ecosystem design that links platforms with workforce development and service reliability.