Buying books in Nigeria is one major problem any book lover in Nigerian can relate to. For years now, we have been stuck with old bookshops that do not stock latest fictions, non fiction, business & economics, and motivational books
There are a few start-ups in Nigeria that have launched online platforms over the years to make access to physical books a seamless process.
Here is are a few notable ones offering on-demand service.
Booklify is an online bookstore and a platform that is creating a global network of book readers, writers and book enthusiasts.
Founded by Nathaniel Okwoli and launched on July 7, 2017, The platform is designed to help users to read, discuss their favourite books with other people. Users can sort for books by categories,write reviews of book they’ve read, share and recommend books to reading clubs and groups, follow a particular author on the platform. The platform allow users to write quotes, create reviews, send direct messages to other users and mention authors of interest in their newsfeed. publishers can also promote their books on the website and they can track their sales on their dashboard.
Panacea is an online platform where readers can rent books and other learning resources and meet with people of interest.
Co-founded by Olugbenga Odeyemi (CEO) and Philip Amiola (COO) and launched on July 1, 2017, the platform operates like a networking centre, which allows authors, students, publishers and professionals to share from each others reservoir of knowledge and earn money in the process. Instead of spending so much on purchasing several books of interest, the platform allows people to lend books from others while lenders make money sharing their books. it has other sharing features like StudyMates and BookClubs, It also has a reward system that makes learning fun and profitable for readers, authors and publishers.
Panacea was a beneficiary of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) in 2016.
Founded by Tobi Eyinade, RovingHeights is an online book sales and distribution platform that has a wide collection of books of different categories.
“We are a socially minded bookstore. Our goal is to bring all books fit to read to our customers, while helping to enrich the reading culture in Nigeria through literacy programs and various intervention that can create a vibrant reading public”.
Apart from selling books on its platform, they offer distribution services for self-published authors. They assist authors in the distribution of their books across the country. ” we offer a core distribution service for self-published authors. We help them distribute their books across Nigeria. In a bid to distinguish our brand from others, we deliver books in attractive book packs and bookmarks with words to encourage reading”.