One Universe has launched a digital marketplace to support Nigeria's informal service economy by improving trust, payment security, and service delivery. The mobile app, available on major app stores, connects users with verified service providers, allowing them to negotiate jobs, agree on pricing and timelines, and make payments within a single platform. Nigeria's service sector accounts for over 90 percent of employment and remains largely cash-based, fragmented, and lacking in consumer protection. One Universe aims to address these challenges with identity verification, structured job engagement, and a secure escrow-based payment system that holds funds until services are completed and confirmed. All users are verified using national identity systems to enhance accountability. The platform has integrated financial services through partnerships with licensed institutions, offering pay-later options, microloans, and business tools to help informal workers build transaction histories and access credit. Customers can also obtain urgent services without making full upfront payments. To encourage growth, One Universe introduced a Recruiter Program that rewards users for bringing on new customers and service providers. The platform is live nationwide and supports tens of thousands of users and service professionals. It positions itself as digital infrastructure for trusted service delivery and formalisation of informal work.
One Universe promotes nationwide trust in service transactions while relying on national identity systems that many informal workers still cannot access. The platform's requirement for identity verification may exclude the very workers it aims to support, particularly those without updated national IDs. Its escrow and financial tools offer clear benefits, but scalability hinges on overcoming existing gaps in identity coverage. Without addressing this mismatch, the platform risks serving only a segment of the informal economy already closer to the formal grid.
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