By Adaeze Nwosu, April 12, 2026
Lagos entrepreneur Tunde Adebayo runs three SaaS companies generating $30,000 USD in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) using an affordable tech stack that costs just $20 per month. He built them solo from his Yaba apartment despite Nigeria's daily power outages averaging 12 hours, per Transmission Company of Nigeria data.
Adebayo launched FarmFlow in 2024 to help Ogun State farmers schedule crop inputs via SMS reminders. InvoiceNaija streamlines payments for freelancers facing bank delays. ContentHub automates social media posts for Nigerian creators. Each now contributes $10,000 USD MRR.
From Side Hustle to Profitable Scale
Adebayo spotted gaps in Nigeria's agritech and gig economy sectors. Farmers in Ogun lose 20% of yields without timely reminders amid unreliable mobile networks, according to NAERLS reports. Freelancers endure three-day payment waits due to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) forex restrictions.
He developed prototypes during evenings after his day job at CcHUB incubator. FarmFlow serves 5,000 paying users at $2 USD monthly each, hitting $10,000 USD MRR by Q1 2026. InvoiceNaija and ContentHub replicate this model with similar user bases and pricing.
"Naira devaluation from 1,500 NGN/USD wiped out my cloud budget savings," Adebayo says. "I prioritized an affordable tech stack with pay-as-you-grow pricing." This kept costs near zero until revenues stabilized.
Affordable Tech Stack Breakdown
Vercel Pro hosts all three sites for a flat $20 USD monthly fee. It deploys Next.js frontends with instant global edge caching. Hobby tiers handled initial traffic for free.
Supabase provides PostgreSQL databases, authentication, and storage on free starter plans. Edge functions execute backend logic without servers. Real-time subscriptions sync farmer schedules across spotty connections.
Stripe handles international payments at 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, with NGN conversions. Resend delivers transactional emails free up to 3,000 monthly. Total stack expenses remain under $20 USD even at scale.
| Tool | Monthly Cost | Primary Role | |------------|--------------|-------------------------------| | Vercel Pro | $20 USD | Hosting, Deployments, Edge | | Supabase | $0 USD | Database, Auth, Storage, Functions | | Stripe | Fees only | Payments Processing | | Resend | $0 USD | Email Delivery |
Built for Nigerian Infrastructure Realities
Nigeria's SaaS market reached $250 million USD in 2025, with 30% year-over-year growth, per NITDA statistics. Founders grapple with 1,500 NGN/USD exchange rates and blackouts lasting 12 hours daily in Lagos, per World Bank infrastructure reports.
Adebayo's affordable tech stack sidesteps AWS bills that exceed $500 USD monthly for competitors. Vercel's edge network reduces latency by 40% on MTN and Glo mobile data. Supabase stores data in EU regions for reliable access during downtime.
He powers laptops with solar banks costing NGN 50,000 annually. Apps feature offline-first designs using Supabase local caching. This setup mirrors infrastructure challenges across Nigeria, where only 55% of businesses have reliable electricity, per PwC Africa surveys.
Global giants like AWS charge premiums, while local providers like Layer3 demand NGN-based upfront fees. Adebayo's serverless mix delivers superior unit economics for sub-$50,000 USD MRR startups.
Lessons for Pan-African Founders
Rwanda's agritech firms like Apollo Agriculture adopt similar Supabase-Vercel stacks for farmer tools, navigating Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority approvals. Kenyan fintechs such as M-Pesa wallet developers test Supabase for real-time transaction ledgers under CBK oversight.
Adebayo shares open-source blueprints on X (@TundeBuilds), inspiring replications. An Abuja developer cloned InvoiceNaija and reached $5,000 USD MRR in two months. "Investors hunt unicorns, but solo founders build sustainable empires," Adebayo states.
His $30,000 USD MRR validates bootstrapping without venture capital dilution. Nigeria's AltSchool Africa supplies talent, with Andela's 2026 survey showing 20% more indie SaaS launches amid CBN's digital economy push.
Next Steps: Scaling Sustainably
Adebayo aims for $50,000 USD MRR per app by December 2026. He integrates OpenAI APIs at $0.02 per 1,000 tokens for FarmFlow yield predictions based on user-input data.
Stripe's NGN support trails local options, so he pairs it with Paystack—a CBN-licensed gateway—for Nigerian cards at 1.5% fees. Power backups total NGN 50,000 yearly, covered 500 times by one app's MRR.
Unit economics shine: 70% gross margins after fees, with customer acquisition via organic X posts and farmer co-ops at near-zero cost.
Ecosystem Ripple Effects
Adebayo's model spotlights indie hacking in Nigeria's Yaba tech cluster. CcHUB now runs monthly affordable tech stack workshops. NITDA references it in the 2026 Digital Economy Bill to boost local SaaS.
Africa's SaaS market projects $2 billion USD in 2026, per Partech Africa, with low-cost stacks fueling 40% growth. Nigerian firms capture 25% share, outpacing South Africa's regulated ecosystem.
Founders like Adebayo prove scalable tech needs no massive budgets. His affordable tech stack blueprint spawns Lagos copycats targeting $10,000 USD MRR, reshaping bootstrap culture across West Africa.
