PUBLIC REPORT Nigeria-first maps infrastructure

Why I Built Pulleat

Pulleat is a personal project I built around a simple question: can I create a useful Nigeria-first maps API that people can test before committing too heavily to expensive map bills at scale?

This is not an anti-Google argument. Google Maps is excellent. The issue is that mapping gets expensive very quickly once geocoding, autocomplete, places, routing, and repeated operational calls start piling up, especially for startups paying in dollars.

Why This Problem Matters

For many startups, maps costs are easy to underestimate. A product may start with a few address lookups, then grow into autocomplete, place search, route calculation, ETA updates, rider tracking, and operational queries across multiple surfaces. At that point, the bill is no longer small.

Google Maps Platform now uses per-SKU pricing and subscription plans. Official pricing currently includes plans like Starter at $100 per month, Essentials at $275 per month, and Pro at $1,200 per month, with separate usage-based pricing across routes, places, and other products.

That may be manageable for large companies. It is much more painful for early African startups, local products, and operators trying to validate demand while managing dollar-denominated software costs. TechCabal also reported that Nigerian founders were actively trying to reduce those kinds of foreign-currency software bills as FX pressure hit margins.

The Local Address Reality

The address problem is not theoretical. Reporting around Nigerian postal and addressing infrastructure has long shown that a large share of homes and businesses do not receive door delivery properly. NIPOST-linked public reporting stated that only 20% of Nigerians received mail at home, 79% of homes and businesses could not receive delivery to the door, and only 5% of mail used postcodes correctly.

More recent startup reporting shows the same issue in a modern form. TechCrunch reported OkHi survey data showing that 57% of surveyed Nigerians said they could not verify their address in some situations, 50% said they did not have a utility bill, and 78% said they had needed to prove their address to get a job.

In practice, this means businesses still rely on landmarks, phone calls, rider clarification, WhatsApp pins, gate descriptions, and local memory to complete last-mile delivery successfully.

Public discussion reflects the same thing. Developers on Reddit still complain that Google Maps and Places become expensive quickly when autocomplete, geocoding, map loads, and route requests pile up. On Nairaland, users still ask how to add streets, complain that some Nigerian directions are misleading, or rely on landmarks to verify map accuracy.

What Sparked It

Part of the motivation came from public complaints on X about rider ETA, routing quality, and delivery experience in Nigerian logistics products. Those conversations made the problem feel concrete, not abstract.

Another important input was earlier public work shared by @python_xi. That work mattered. Pulleat did not appear out of nowhere. I built this project on top of that earlier mapping base, then adapted, integrated, extended, deployed, and turned it into a public-facing Nigeria-first API and product experience.

What I Actually Built

The part I wanted to own personally was not just the underlying map engine. It was the product layer around it: the public API, the command center, the docs, the deployment, the admin tooling, the access workflow, the correction flow, the Nigeria-first framing, and the benchmarking needed to make it practical.

Forward geocoding
Reverse geocoding
Place and landmark search
Routing
ETA estimation
Public command center
Admin access tooling
Correction submission workflow
Documentation and public report layer

The result is a project that is free to test publicly. I keep the playground open so people can see what works before asking for deeper access. I also keep a correction path open so the system can improve where local truth is stronger than generic map data.

What Works Today

Today, Pulleat is strongest in Lagos and usable across Nigeria-first test flows. It already supports real geocoding, reverse geocoding, routing, and ETA queries through the public beta surface.

Nigeria-only public beta
Lagos is strongest today
Anonymous playground available
Full API access approved manually during beta
Corrections can be submitted directly through the product

What This Is Not

This is not a claim that I have solved African mapping perfectly. It is not a promise that no one will ever need a global provider again. It is also not yet a continent-wide product.

Coverage is Nigeria only for now
Lagos remains the strongest city today
Some low-confidence results still need correction
Matrix and snap are intentionally held back for later demand
The system is designed to improve with verified local usage over time

Credits And Attribution

Pulleat should be understood as a personal project built on top of earlier public mapping work, not as a claim that I wrote every foundational piece from zero. The earlier public work shared by @python_xi deserves explicit credit for helping make this possible.

My contribution was taking that base, adapting it to a Nigeria-first use case, wiring the public API, deploying the live service, building the admin and access flow, shaping the public product surface, and turning it into something people can test directly.

Why I Am Making It Public

I wanted founders, engineers, operations teams, and product builders to have something they can test immediately. If it helps reduce a few early bills, remove a few delivery failures, or prove that local-first mapping can be practical infrastructure, then it is worth publishing openly.

Try The Command Center Read The API Docs