MarketplaceFeatured

Naija Co-op Hub

Naija Co-op Hub is a comprehensive cooperative marketplace platform that enables communities to pool resources, make bulk purchases, access loans, and trade securely through an integrated escrow system.

10 monthsLive Demo

The Problem

Cooperative societies in Nigeria lacked a unified digital platform to manage their operations. Members needed separate tools for savings, loans, marketplace trading, and communication, leading to fragmented experiences and poor financial visibility.

The Solution

Built an all-in-one cooperative platform featuring a marketplace with escrow protection, individual and group wallets, loan management, bulk purchasing deals, and integrated messaging for seamless member communication.

Architecture

Monolithic Django backend with modular apps

React frontend with real-time updates via WebSockets

PostgreSQL with row-level security for multi-tenant data

Escrow service with time-locked releases

Integrated payment processing with Paystack

Technologies Used

DjangoReactPostgreSQLRedisWebSocketsPaystack APIAWS

Challenges

1Implementing a secure escrow system that protects both buyers and sellers
2Building a loan approval workflow with credit scoring integration
3Creating a real-time messaging system that scales with member growth

Engineering Trade-offs

1Chose PostgreSQL row-level security over separate databases per cooperative — simpler operations and lower infrastructure cost, at the cost of needing rigorous policy testing to prevent cross-tenant data leaks
2Chose an event-driven state machine for escrow over direct status updates — a clear audit trail of every transition, at the cost of more upfront design work per state
3Built notifications in-house instead of using a third-party service — full control over delivery logic with no per-message cost at scale, at the cost of having to build and maintain retry and delivery infrastructure ourselves