Fotosut founder Oluseyi Magic drives new push to formalise Nigeria’s photography industry

By Adetutu Audu

“Photography in Nigeria is not small. It is just unorganised. That is not the same thing,” says Oluseyi Magic, founder of Fotosut, an AI-powered business management platform built for African photographers and creative entrepreneurs.

Oluseyi Magic, who founded Fotosut after more than a decade working as a professional wedding photographer in Lagos, has spent the last several years building what is now emerging as one of the most structured attempts to formalise Nigeria’s photography sector. What began as an effort to teach photographers the business side of their craft has since evolved into a full ecosystem of ventures spanning education, technology, events, and commerce.

“We started with a simple observation. Nigeria has no shortage of talented photographers. What it lacks is structured photography businesses,” he explains. “Those are two different problems, and only one of them has real economic consequences.”

Today, Fotosut has crossed over 2,000 active users within four months of launch, with adoption driven largely by word-of-mouth across photographer networks in Nigeria and other African markets. The platform allows photographers to manage their entire business workflow, including client management, invoicing, receipts, payment tracking, and scheduling, through a conversational AI assistant.

Industry observers point to the platform’s local-first design as a key differentiator. Unlike foreign alternatives such as Honeybook and Studio Ninja, Fotosut is built around African payment realities, bandwidth conditions, and client behaviour.

“There is a growing demand for proper business tools among African creatives,” Magic notes. “But most of the platforms available are either priced in dollars or built for Western markets. We are bridging that gap with a platform that understands how African photographers actually work.”

Beyond the technology, Magic also runs Raremagic Academy, a creative education community of over 20,000 photographers and creative professionals across Africa, and The Launch Conference, Nigeria’s largest annual photography gathering, which drew approximately 2,000 physical attendees and 7,000 to 8,000 online participants at its most recent edition. The 2026 edition featured a keynote from a special adviser to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Launch 27 is scheduled for January 2027.

“A lot of what we do goes beyond any one product,” he says. “It is about building systems, connecting photographers to business knowledge, giving them the tools to operate professionally, and creating the convening platforms where the industry can grow together.”

That systems-driven approach has also translated into job creation and industry activity across the creative economy. Fotosut, Raremagic Academy, and Backdrops by Raremagic, his e-commerce venture supplying affordable studio equipment, collectively support a growing network of photographers, suppliers, instructors, and support staff across the country.

The sector, however, continues to operate within a challenging environment. “One of the biggest realities we face is that most of Nigeria’s photography industry is still informal,” Magic explains. “Most transactions happen without contracts. Most photographers operate without financial systems. These factors limit how far the industry can scale and how seriously it is taken by investors, policymakers, and the global market.”

He adds that these constraints are shaping the direction of his work. “We are investing heavily in AI-powered tools that make structure easy to adopt, even for photographers who have never run a formal business before. The goal is to ensure that structure is not a privilege reserved for a few, but a default available to as many creatives as possible.”

With Fotosut continuing to expand across Nigeria and other African markets, the company is positioning itself as a driver of change in how creative work is organised, monetised, and measured on the continent.

Looking ahead, Magic says the long-term vision is to make structured business infrastructure as accessible to African creatives as banking apps or ride-hailing services have become for everyday consumers. “Nigeria has one of the largest and most talented photography communities in the world,” he says. “Our long-term vision is to scale tools, education, and convening platforms that unlock the full economic potential of the creative industry, not just for photographers, but for the wider African creative economy.”