Milsat Technologies: The Nigerian company putting digital addresses on millions of buildings

Finding a house in parts of Nigeria can involve more than having a street name and house number. A delivery driver may reach the right neighbourhood but still need to call the customer for directions. Sometimes the instructions involve a nearby shop, a junction or a building that everyone in the area knows. Milsat Technologies has spent years working on the mapping technology behind Nigeria's new digital postcode system, which was launched on 1 October 2026. The system gives individual buildings and delivery points their own codes, making it possible to identify a specific property rather than just a general area.

For Milsat, the project is also the result of work that started long before the national launch. Founded in 2017 by Taslim Salaudeen and Adedamola Baderinwa, the Nigerian company develops software for collecting and managing geographical information. Its work has included mapping buildings for census activities and helping organisations gather information about communities. Salaudeen, the company's co-founder and chief executive, says the business is focused on the infrastructure needed to make location information useful. "We are not another addressing company. We are a location data infrastructure company," he said.

The work started with mapping buildings

Milsat became involved with the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) towards the end of 2021. The introduction followed its work with the National Population Commission on mapping buildings, roads and other geographical features for census-related activities. Salaudeen said Milsat's technology supported the mapping of more than 65 million buildings. That work gave the company experience in collecting location information across different parts of Nigeria.

NIPOST had been working on a new national addressing system, but needed technology that could turn its plans into a working service. Milsat joined the project as a technical partner. It developed the software and took part in a pilot in Abuja, where users could search for postcodes and link them to particular locations.

The company provided training and operational support during the pilot. Salaudeen said it also covered some of the costs itself. The national contract was secured by MID Network, which later worked with Milsat on the project. Salaudeen said the technology was already being developed and tested before the national rollout was approved. That earlier work helped the team move into implementation without having to start from the beginning.

Moving beyond a postcode for an entire area

Under the previous system, a postcode could identify a district or a wider part of a city. It was less useful when someone needed to find one particular building. The new system breaks an address down into five levels: state, local government area, district, area and individual unit. That last level is the building or delivery point. A compound with three separate standing buildings, for example, can have three different codes.

Baderinwa explained that an area can contain up to 99 buildings, while a district can contain up to 400 areas. The system also takes geographical size into account in places where buildings are spread over larger distances. This is important because Nigerian communities do not all follow the same layout. In a densely populated part of Lagos, buildings may stand close together. In rural areas, houses can be separated by fields, waterways and long stretches of land. The system also has a specific definition of a delivery unit. A permanent standing structure can receive a code, while a temporary shelter or movable structure may not qualify.

Why mapping Nigeria takes more than satellite images

Milsat has had to work with settlement patterns that are not always easy to capture using conventional mapping methods. Some communities have planned streets and clearly defined properties. Others have developed around waterways, informal paths and landmarks. In some areas, houses are built in ways that do not fit the usual idea of a residential building.

Salaudeen referred to homes along rivers and communities where people live in caves or other unusual structures. Baderinwa also described family arrangements in parts of northern Nigeria where relatives may live in separate buildings but share food and household activities. These details matter when collecting information. A mapping exercise that assumes every household occupies one building could produce an inaccurate picture of how a community is organised.

Milsat combines satellite imagery with information gathered by field teams. Its software allows enumerators to record buildings and other geographical features, while checking the information for errors. The fieldwork remains important. Satellite images can show where structures are located, but someone still needs to confirm what is on the ground.

Buildings keep changing, so the database must too

The postcode database will need regular updates. New houses are built, existing structures are extended and some buildings are demolished. New settlements also appear as towns and cities expand. Residents and property owners can request codes for buildings that are missing. Government departments can also submit information from their records, including building-permit data.

NIPOST's postcode department reviews submissions and approves changes. Where information is uncertain, officials can arrange for it to be checked in person. Salaudeen estimated that almost 50 million buildings were already represented in the database when the interview took place. The figure was supplied by Milsat's executives and was not independently verified.

He said the number would continue to grow as more properties are identified. "Postcode is not something where we say we have finished," he said. "It is a continuous growth because people keep on building houses."

Not everyone will access it online

There is another practical issue: how people will obtain their postcodes. Some Nigerians have smartphones and reliable internet access. Others do not. Milsat and its partners are therefore looking at ways to make the information available through organisations and services that people already use.

Banks, hospitals, health centres and utility providers could help customers retrieve their codes. Local representatives could also visit communities and assist residents. The company is exploring SMS and USSD options, which would allow people to access the service without a smartphone. These were still possibilities under consideration at the time of the interview. Salaudeen said the approach would have to account for differences between communities. Making an online service available would not be enough if large numbers of people could not use it.

Businesses can use the postcode data

The system could be useful to companies that need accurate customer addresses. For a delivery business, identifying the correct building could reduce the number of calls drivers make when trying to find customers. Banks and financial institutions could use the information when recording customer addresses, while other businesses could connect it to their own systems.

Companies interested in using the data can apply for API access through dashboard.postco.gov.ng. According to Baderinwa, they need to register, complete a business verification process and request access. Developers can test the system in a sandbox environment before integrating it into their products. He said about 700 companies had registered at the time of the interview. That figure was not independently verified.

Milsat also wants to help businesses and government agencies maintain their location records. Salaudeen said the company sees an opportunity in managing datasets over time, rather than simply collecting information and leaving organisations to maintain it themselves. He put the reported cost of the national postcode project at below ₦8 billion. The amount covered field equipment, software deployment and infrastructure for NIPOST. He did not provide a detailed breakdown or say how much Milsat earned from the project.

The real work continues after launch

The launch has given Nigeria a system for assigning codes to individual buildings. Getting those codes into everyday use is a separate task. Residents need to know how to find their codes. Businesses need to be able to access the information, and NIPOST will have to keep the database current as buildings and communities change.

There is also the question of whether companies will find the information reliable enough to build into their operations. Milsat sees possible uses beyond postal deliveries, including census work, public health programmes, banking and government planning. Those applications will depend on the quality of the location information and whether institutions are prepared to use it.

For now, the first practical test is whether a delivery driver can find a customer's building without having to make several phone calls. That may sound like a small improvement, but for delivery companies handling hundreds of addresses each day, getting the location right can save time and reduce failed deliveries.