Meet Nigeria’s first Cloudways Agency Partner. OATS Africa is a commerce-first agency that helps internet-first businesses scale through technology, systems, and marketing while simultaneously building products tailored for the African market.
Rooted in a philosophy of access, OATS Africa gives businesses the tools to build, sell, and grow online: access to technology, access to opportunity, and access to sustainable businesses on the internet from Africa.
We spoke with Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar, founder of OATS Africa, about how the company evolved from experimentation and freelancing into a product-driven agency, the realities of building in Nigeria, and why product, people, and profit sit at the center of everything they do.
Starting With Internet Access
OATS Africa exists to help internet-first businesses grow and scale through technology, systems, and marketing solutions. While the agency delivers e-commerce services today, it has always been built with products for tomorrow in mind.
For its founder, Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar, the starting point was simple.
“I really just want to be able to think and build stuff and make a living off the internet,” he says.
That desire shaped the earliest decisions behind OATS Africa. What began in 2019 as experimentation quickly revealed a defining truth about the Nigerian market: impact cannot be abstract or delayed.
“What we realized early on is that people in this part of the world don’t have time to wait for impact. They want instant gratification,” Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar explains.
This insight guided the agency’s focus toward businesses that already understood one thing clearly — without a website or proper digital infrastructure, they simply could not make money.
Before formalizing as an agency, Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar tested ideas himself, from a fashion store to event-related products. Each experiment refined the same question: if people elsewhere could build and earn online, why shouldn’t Nigerians have the same access?
Early work in event ticketing was especially revealing. Existing platforms were gated by influence and hierarchy.
“If you were not a big boy, you couldn’t have access,” he recalls.
Building in entertainment made sense, but the goal was always broader. If something could be done elsewhere, it could be done in Nigeria too.
From Freelance to Focus
OATS Africa did not begin as an agency. It started as freelancing in 2019, and with that came misalignment — around expectations, pricing, and long-term sustainability.
“Moving from freelance to agency, the realities of Nigeria present themselves as choices you have to make,” Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar says.
– The agency’s focus on innovation and product-first solutions is evident in every meeting, as they continue building digital infrastructure for the future.
In markets with stronger infrastructure, agencies can afford to experiment widely. In Nigeria, saying yes to the wrong businesses can be fatal.
OATS Africa learned early that it could not serve everyone and survive.
“We understand this can sound like not giving access to every business, but if we don’t say no, OATS Africa will run down,” he explains.
That clarity pushed the team to become intentional about who they worked with, focusing especially on commerce-driven businesses where digital infrastructure directly impacted revenue.
Building Value in Nigeria
Building an agency in Nigeria means navigating bureaucracy and uneven opportunity. Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar’s response to this reality has remained consistent.
“Always deliver value first.”
In a market where relationships and access can quickly become political, value cuts through everything.
“Value will always transcend all of the bureaucracies and politics,” he explains.
If a solution is undeniably useful, it earns attention. This belief sustained OATS Africa through its early years.
A major inflection point came in 2023 when the agency became a Shopify Partner. At the time, the team was small, with just one corporate client. Shopify exposed OATS Africa to a larger ecosystem and demonstrated what scale could look like.
Momentum followed when the agency reached a consistent $2,000 in monthly revenue — a clear signal that the model worked in the Nigerian market.
One early client, SKLD (skits.ng), further shaped Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar’s thinking. Although initially brought in as a digital marketer, he chose to operate as a consultant instead.
“It opened my eyes to the possibilities,” he recalls.
Client acquisition remained organic, driven by referrals and increased visibility through Shopify, including international opportunities.
Challenges That Forced Change
Two early challenges reshaped OATS Africa: pricing and retention. Many early services were one-off, particularly website development. Once projects ended, clients often left.
“If we got 10 clients this particular month and those paid the bills, we had to find the next 10 clients to pay the bills next month,” Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar explains.
This realization forced the team to rethink sustainability.
Instead of relying solely on services, OATS Africa began building products and owning more of its value chain. When clients loved internal tools but could not afford them, the team inverted the model and began building products they could sell directly.
CiDAR emerged from this shift. After repeatedly searching for artists for client projects, the team decided to solve the problem themselves.
“We got tired of always looking for artists, so we got money and started signing these artists ourselves through CiDAR,” he says.
Owning products helped stabilize the agency and unlocked a new kind of growth.
– Showcasing emerging musical talent, CiDAR Africa is committed to elevating the careers of promising recording artists. (Source: OATS Africa)
Product, People, and Profit
Today, OATS Africa operates on three principles: product, people, and profit.
Profit matters, but not as a bet on a distant future.
“If it must make a profit, we don’t think too much about earning long-term profits because it starts feeling like gambling,” Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar explains.
Products always come first. If a client rejects the right technical solution, the team is willing to walk away.
People come before profit. When clients lack understanding, OATS Africa takes responsibility for education.
“If you build something that comes before people and profit, it will always stand the test of time because of how good the product is,” he says.
That balance has earned the agency long-term trust and credibility.
Tools That Enabled Scale
Commerce has always been central to OATS Africa’s mission. The team experimented with WooCommerce and Wix, but Shopify stood out for its flexibility.
“If you didn’t know anything, you could use Shopify. If you know something, you could also customize it,” Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar says.
Becoming Shopify’s first Nigerian agency partner helped establish trust and industry credibility early.
Cloudways entered the picture through WordPress and website development. Like many builders, Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar quickly encountered the limits of shared hosting.
Cloudways changed that.
With Cloudways, the team can launch new websites in under five minutes, making speed and flexibility core advantages.
“Ever since I found Cloudways, I feel like for what I need right now, no other platform can beat Cloudways,” he says.
– With Cloudways, the OATS Africa team can launch websites in minutes, enhancing their ability to deliver high-quality digital services efficiently.
Becoming the first Cloudways Agency Partner in Nigeria represents more than a badge.
“It positions us as best in class in our skillset,” Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar adds.
For OATS Africa, it is proof of value without rigid verification.
What Comes Next
The future of OATS Africa is product-first. The team plans to grow service revenue while continuing to build e-commerce products for the Nigerian market and beyond.
For Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar, impact is practical and measurable.
“If I can help the next person starting a business do things in a faster and better way, and replicate that for 20 businesses generating 20 million in revenue, and they can say OATS Africa helped us get here, that’s a real impact for us,” he says.
What excites him most is already in motion. OATS Africa continues to build, partner, and expand products such as CiDAR and the newly launched Tikkets ticketing platform.
– The platform allows for seamless creation, promotion, and management of events, all while ensuring an efficient experience for purchasing tickets. (Source: OATS Africa)
“To look back and say I made this plan, I grew, made changes, and still achieved my goal — that excites me,” Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar reflects.
As Cloudways’ first agency partner in Nigeria, OATS Africa is proving that world-class digital infrastructure, when localized thoughtfully, can unlock meaningful growth — one product, one business, and one ecosystem at a time.
Interested in working with OATS Africa? You can connect with Olaniyan Abdul-Gafar on LinkedIn or through their website. We recently interviewed him as part of our Agency Spotlight series.
Mansoor Ahmed Khan
Been in content marketing since 2014, and I still get a kick out of creating stories that resonate with the target audience and drive results. At Cloudways by DigitalOcean (a leading cloud hosting company, btw!), I lead a dream team of content creators. Together, we brainstorm, write, and churn out awesome content across all the channels: blogs, social media, emails, you name it! You can reach out to me at [email protected].
