The Nigerian AI ecosystem has seen remarkable growth in recent years, with a record number of sectors embracing AI technologies to boost efficiency and keep pace with changing technology trends. The AI Innovator interviews Agbo Obinnaya, cofounder of Case Radar AI – a LegalTech startup in Nigeria that provides AI-driven solutions to law firms across the country.
The AI Innovator: How has Nigeria’s AI startup ecosystem evolved in recent years, and what sets it apart from other African tech hubs?
Nigeria’s AI ecosystem has seen remarkable momentum in recent years. From scattered experiments, we’ve moved to real products solving real problems, especially with what we are currently doing in LegalTech at Case Radar. What sets Nigeria apart is our unique intersection of problems that demand urgent, scalable solutions and a young, hungry tech talent pool that’s leveraging AI to leapfrog traditional barriers. Unlike other hubs, our startups are not just tech-driven – they’re necessity-driven.
What funding challenges have you faced as a Nigerian AI startup, and how have you addressed them?
Funding has been a steep hill. Many investors still don’t fully understand AI’s long-term value, especially in the legal space. We bootstrapped initially and focused on traction – getting early sign-ups, partnerships, and proof of real use. That momentum helped us start building credibility. We’re now strategic about partnerships and pitching, highlighting not just tech, but impact, real traction, and revenue potential.
How does Nigeria’s government policy environment affect AI startups like yours, and what changes would you like to see?
The regulatory environment is still catching up. There’s uncertainty, especially around AI deployment. I’d like to see policies that encourage public-private collaboration.
How do you balance building Case Radar for local needs versus appealing to international investors?
Investors invest where they will get returns for their investment and everything points to the fact that Case Radar is the right pick for such investments. Our core is local – Nigerian problems and laws – but the problems we solve – access to justice, legal automation – are global. We focus on building a solid product for Nigeria while ensuring our architecture is scalable to other African markets. That balance – deep local relevance, global scalability – is what resonates with international investors.
Besides LegalTech, which Nigerian sectors do you think are most ready for AI disruption, and why?
Health care, education, and agriculture. In health care, AI can help with diagnostics and medical records in rural areas. In education, AI tutors and curriculum personalization can bridge access gaps. And agriculture has a massive opportunity with predictive analytics for yield forecasting and supply chain optimization. These sectors face infrastructure and manpower challenges – AI can bridge that gap.
What specific legal challenges in Nigeria made AI a compelling solution for your product?
Nigeria has millions of people who can’t afford lawyers or even understand their rights. Court backlogs are massive. Legal information is hard to access. AI, especially generative AI, became the natural solution to simplify laws, provide instant guidance, and automate legal processes, bringing relief to an overwhelmed system. That is why our mission is to democratize legal knowledge for the general public and also provide a platform that will help lawyers enhance their practice of law.
What inspired you to start Case Radar, and how has your vision changed over time?
The inspiration came from lived experience – seeing everyday people unable to afford justice and lawyers overwhelmed with repetitive tasks. Initially, we were building a simple legal assistant. Over time, the vision evolved: Case Radar is now an all-in-one AI-powered legal ecosystem helping our users with legal research, document generation, legal advice, and lawyer discovery. We’re not just solving a pain point; we’re reimagining legal access.
What core AI technologies power Case Radar, and how did you tailor them for the Nigerian legal system?
Case Radar leverages a combination of natural language processing (NLP), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and transformer-based models like GPT. We fine-tuned these on Nigerian case law, legislation, and legal templates to ensure contextual relevance. It’s not just about tech – it’s about training the AI to understand our legal language, formats, and local nuance.
What challenges have you faced in getting Nigerian legal professionals to adopt Case Radar, and how did you overcome them?
Adoption was tough at first. Many lawyers feared AI would replace them. Others were skeptical about accuracy. We overcame that by engaging them early – getting their feedback, onboarding them for free, showing them how it boosts efficiency instead of replacing them. Our team is mainly made up of lawyers so our strategy was to build with legal professionals and not just for them. I am also a lawyer and I understand how the legal industry can be.
How does Case Radar improve access to legal services in Nigeria, and do you have any impact metrics to share?
We’ve significantly reduced the time it takes to get legal advice. People can now get legal advice in a few seconds. A user can generate a contract or understand their rights in under 60 seconds. In our first seven hours post-launch, we had over 100 signups. Within a month, we had clients reaching out to lawyers on our platform. We currently have over 1,300 users and we’re on track to support 10,000 legal interactions in our first year.
How do you handle data privacy and security on your platform, especially given Nigeria’s evolving regulations?
We treat data like gold. We use end-to-end encryption, secure cloud hosting, and adhere strictly to Nigeria’s NDPR (Nigeria Data Protection Regulation) and international best practices. We’re also proactive and we make sure users control their data.
What’s your long-term vision for Case Radar, and what future features or expansions are you most excited about?
Long-term, Case Radar will be the operating system for legal access in Africa. We’re building certain tools we cannot talk about right now, and we also plan to expand to francophone and lusophone Africa. But most of all, I’m excited about a future where access to justice is no longer a privilege, but a default.
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