Nigerian investment fintech Cowrywise has processed more than 1 million stock trades in the year since launching its Stocks product, as retail investors increasingly turn to digital platforms to buy Nigerian equities.

The company is now rolling out a curated stocks feature that lets users pick from a selection of companies backed by analyst research and rated "buy," "sell," or "hold." The addition moves the investment app closer to helping users decide what to invest in, beyond simply enabling them to trade.

The launch arrives as retail participation in Nigeria's stock market accelerates. With younger investors buying equities through apps more frequently, investment fintechs are competing not only on access and ease of trading, but also on how effectively they help users decide where to put their money.

"We have been observing a gradual shift in how younger Nigerians think about investing. There is increasing interest in participating directly in the growth of Nigerian businesses, but historically, accessing the stock market felt complicated for a first-time investor," Yarmirama Ashama, Associate Vice President of Product at Cowrywise, told TechCabal in an interview. "Our view was that the opportunity wasn't simply to give people access to stocks, but to make that access significantly simpler and more intuitive."

Retail activity on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) has been climbing amid stronger market returns, driving engagement with fintech apps that offer easier access to equities. In the first eight months of 2026, local stock investors traded ₦4.53 trillion ($3.42 billion) worth of equities on the NGX, nearly double the ₦2.33 trillion ($1.76 billion) recorded over the same period last year.

The NGX All-Share Index (ASI), which tracks the market performance of listed equities on the exchange, had gained 56.93% by the end of August 2026, giving retail investors further incentive to participate as digital platforms made buying stocks easier.

In July, TechCabal spoke with young professionals who invest fixed amounts monthly, often through mobile apps. Some commit as little as ₦5,000 ($3.77), while others put in between ₦20,000 ($15.07) and ₦200,000 ($150.72) each month, underscoring how stock investing is becoming a regular habit for a younger class of retail investors.

Digital investment apps such as Cowrywise and Bamboo are at the centre of that push. Cowrywise told TechCabal that the average age of its retail stock investors is 28—a cohort in line with the young professionals TechCabal profiled investing fixed amounts through apps in July.

The ongoing Dangote Refinery public offer has given that retail demand another outlet. The ₦2.15 trillion ($1.6 billion) offer, which allows investors to subscribe with as little as ₦5,250 ($3.), sent a rush of retail investors to digital investment platforms, including Cowrywise.

"We have observed periods of increased activity around major corporate and market events like the extension of trading hours, including significant earnings announcements, dividend declarations, corporate actions, broader market movements, and public offers, just like the ongoing IPO event by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery," Ashama said.

Founded in 2017, Cowrywise built its business around savings, mutual funds, and managed investments before adding self-directed stock trading. Through Stocks, the fintech earns revenue from brokerage commissions on retail trades it processes on the NGX.

Bamboo, which began by offering self-directed stock investing, launched Managed Portfolio in 2025, allowing customers to invest in a curated portfolio of US stocks with a minimum investment of $100. Before that, Bamboo added access to NGX stocks in 2024—more than a year ahead of Cowrywise. Retail participation on its app has grown since then; in June, the company told TechCabal it processed 542,582 NGX trades in April alone, surpassing stockbrokers such as CardinalStone to become the NGX's largest broker by weighted market share. The two companies now approach the same investor from opposite directions—Cowrywise moving from managed products into self-directed trading, Bamboo from self-directed trading into curation—as Nigerian investment apps put access and guidance on a single platform.

With the Dangote Refinery offer still open and NGX turnover running nearly twice last year's pace, how readily first-time users take up curated picks—and how the contest between trading access and investing guidance plays out among apps like Cowrywise and Bamboo—will be the developments to watch as Nigeria's 2026 retail surge unfolds.