Nume Ekeghe
Nigeria’s food services industry is projected to grow to $19.31 billion by 2030, driven by rapid digitalisation, embedded financial services and changing consumer behaviour, according to a new industry study by Moniepoint.
The report titled, ‘What it Takes to Feed Nigeria everyday: The payment story behind its foodservice industry’ estimated the sector’s value at $11.09 billion in 2025 and projected an average annual growth rate of 11.73 per cent over the next five years, supported by the expansion of digital payment infrastructure, food delivery platforms and cloud kitchens.
The study, released by the fintech company, examined the evolution of Nigeria’s food service industry over the past four decades and highlighted how technology has addressed longstanding challenges such as settlement delays, payment confirmation bottlenecks, operational leakages and limited access to credit.
According to the report, the industry’s transformation has accelerated with the emergence of food delivery super-apps and a new generation of cloud kitchens operating without physical dining spaces, while food and beverage businesses have become the second-largest merchant category on Moniepoint’s platform after retail.
Group Chief Executive Officer of Moniepoint, Tosin Eniolorunda, said the next phase of competition in the food service industry would be determined by how effectively payment infrastructure is integrated into business operations.
He 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, inventory to recipes, recipes to procurement, procurement to credit, and credit 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.”
The report traced the industry’s development from the opening of Kingsway Rendezvous in 1973 and the launch of Mr Bigg’s in 1986 to the rapid expansion of quick-service restaurant chains such as Chicken Republic and the growing influence of digital-first food businesses.