01
Fragmented Markets
Retail activity is spread across thousands of informal channels with little standardized reporting.
Data from the ground up
Building the data infrastructure for Africa's informal retail economy.
We capture and structure market activity from the informal channels where most consumer goods move, creating trusted intelligence where little reliable data exists.
The challenge
Africa's largest retail channel remains its least understood.
Millions of transactions take place every day across informal markets, yet manufacturers, distributors, financial institutions, and policymakers operate with limited visibility into what is happening on the ground. The result is fragmented decision-making, inefficient distribution, and missed opportunities for growth.
02
Limited Visibility
Organizations struggle to access reliable, real-time intelligence from the markets they depend on.
03
Missed Opportunities
Data gaps lead to weaker forecasting, inefficient operations, and reduced access to capital.
Market reality
The scale of the visibility gap is economically significant.
1%
of consumer retail in Nigeria flows through informal channels.
Source: Oxford Business Group
The majority of consumer goods sold in Nigeria reach buyers through informal retail channels: open-air markets, neighbourhood shops, roadside traders, and independent merchants operating without point-of-sale systems, inventory records, or digital transaction trails.
No barcode scans
No POS terminals
No inventory feeds
No digital trails
Why TruthVein
Built differently from traditional market research.
TruthVein is designed specifically for the realities of informal commerce, creating a trusted and independent intelligence layer built from continuous market activity.
Trust Architecture
Built around an incentive framework that makes consistent reporting valuable to the traders themselves, producing a data stream that compounds over time.
Structural Independence
No lending, no inventory supply, no distribution. Pure data infrastructure. The data reflects the channel, not a supply-side agenda.
Always-on Intelligence
Continuous cycle replaces quarterly estimates. Coverage deepens and historical baselines accumulate over time.
How it works
From market activity to decision intelligence.
Market activity
- 01
Capture
Field data collection across informal trade networks.
- 02
Process
Verification, cleaning, and standardisation of market data.
- 03
Synthesise
Transform market activity into actionable intelligence.
- 04
Deliver
Access via dashboards, APIs, reports, and AI-powered insights.
Enterprise decisions
Our vision
Building the economic source of truth for Africa.
We are creating the foundational intelligence layer that makes informal commerce visible, measurable, and actionable across the continent.
Starting in Nigeria · built for African markets
See the infrastructure taking shape.
Request a walkthrough of TruthVein's approach, platform architecture, and planned market coverage.
Request a Demo