Build a Review System Nigerians Will Actually Trust

In a 2025 survey, 74% of Nigerian online shoppers said they do not trust seller ratings on local platforms. They are right to be sceptical: review inflation, fake accounts, and suppression of negative feedback are endemic. The result is that even genuinely good sellers struggle to differentiate themselves, and buyers default to buying from people they know personally. Your challenge is to design a review and trust system for Nigerian e-commerce that is resistant to manipulation, usable by buyers with low digital literacy, and credible enough that buyers actually change their purchasing decisions based on it. Submit a system design document (max 10 pages) including: how reviewer identity is verified without violating privacy, mechanisms that detect and prevent fake reviews, how negative feedback is protected from suppression, how the system handles disputes, and a plan to integrate with one existing Nigerian marketplace. Judging criteria: 40% technical robustness against manipulation, 30% usability for low-digital-literacy buyers, 20% dispute resolution design, 10% integration plan.