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Mobile App Development with React Native & Expo: Build, Test and Publish a Real App from Nigeria

From a blank folder to an app on Google Play — React Native and Expo in 2026, built for the Tecno-and-2GB-of-data reality, with offline-first data, a real backend, device features, performance on cheap phones, store compliance, and the honest truth about earning from an app in Nigeria.

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About this course

Nigeria is an Android country: more than half of all phones sold are Tecno, Infinix or itel, many with 2 GB of RAM, on data that costs real money. This course teaches you to build apps that work there, and to publish them. Using React Native and Expo — the JavaScript you already know from the web courses, no Mac required for Android — you build one complete app across twelve lessons, SabiSell, a sales-and-stock tracker for a market trader: screens and navigation with Expo Router, forms that handle naira and Android keyboards, offline-first storage with SQLite, a Supabase backend with authentication and sync, camera and WhatsApp sharing with permissions done properly, push notifications through a development build, and performance tuned on the cheapest phone you can borrow. Then the part most tutorials skip: Google Play's 2026 rules — the $25 account, identity verification, the 12-tester closed test, target API 36, 16 KB pages, Data Safety, in-app account deletion — Apple's programme and its Nigerian pitfalls, EAS Build's free tier, over-the-air updates, and why Nigerian developers cannot yet sell paid apps on Play and what they do instead. The project is your own app in a Play closed-testing track with real testers.

Before you write a line of code, look at the phone your app will run on. In Nigeria it is almost certainly Android, and more likely than not it was made by one company: Transsion, whose Tecno, Infinix and itel brands together held just over half the market in the most recent count, with Tecno alone near a quarter. It may have 2 GB of RAM and run Android Go. Its owner buys data by the gigabyte — around ₦1,500 for 2 GB on MTN since the 2025 tariff rise, cheaper on Glo — and notices every megabyte your app wastes. Most mobile tutorials are written for a developer with a MacBook and an iPhone; this course is written for that phone. It teaches React Native with Expo, the stack that lets you build for it with the JavaScript you already know, without a Mac, and ship to Google Play from Lagos, Kano or Enugu.

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 12 lessons

  1. The Nigerian phone in your user's hand — Android, Transsion, 2 GB of RAM and paid-for data — and why React Native with Expo is the stack for 202613 min
  2. React Native fundamentals — components, the core views, flexbox layout, state and lists — and SabiSell's first screen14 min
  3. Navigation with Expo Router — file-based routes, tabs and stacks, dynamic screens, modals and deep links — SabiSell gets its structure13 min
  4. Forms that work on a phone — Android keyboards, naira and quantity inputs, validation, dates and the record-a-sale flow13 min
  5. Offline-first data — why the phone is the source of truth, SQLite with expo-sqlite, the SabiSell data model, migrations and the reports screen14 min
  6. A backend and sync — Supabase auth and Postgres with row-level security, the outbox sync engine, conflicts, and keeping secrets out of the app15 min
  7. Device features — camera and photos, sharing receipts to WhatsApp, permissions done the way Play expects, and push notifications through your first development build14 min
  8. Performance on a ₦80,000 phone — cold start, lists, images, re-renders, bundle size and data use, measured on the device your users own14 min
  9. Quality — TypeScript, tests with Jest and Testing Library, error boundaries, crash reporting, accessibility and theming13 min
  10. Store-ready — app identity and icons, versioning, EAS production builds and signing, target API 36, 16 KB pages, OTA updates, privacy policy, account deletion and the Data Safety form15 min
  11. Publishing from Nigeria — the Google Play account, the 12-tester closed test, review and rejections, Apple's programme and its Nigerian pitfalls, and how you actually earn when Play billing is not available here15 min
  12. After launch — release cadence, crash and review monitoring, SDK upgrades and API deadlines, the mobile developer career in Nigeria, and your project13 min

Your project

Ship Your App to a Play Closed Test

One shared link (Google Doc, Notion page or README section set to 'anyone with the link') listing: the public GitHub repository, the Play closed-testing opt-in link or EAS APK link, the privacy policy and account-deletion page URLs, the Data Safety evidence, the low-end device test notes, and the two-minute demo video.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify. See the full project brief, rubric and free workbook →

Frequently asked questions

Is Mobile App Development with React Native & Expo: Build, Test and Publish a Real App from Nigeria free?

Yes. Mobile App Development with React Native & Expo: Build, Test and Publish a Real App from Nigeria is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does Mobile App Development with React Native & Expo: Build, Test and Publish a Real App from Nigeria take to complete?

8 weeks · ~5 hrs/week. There are 12 lessons, about 3 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start Mobile App Development with React Native & Expo: Build, Test and Publish a Real App from Nigeria?

Intermediate. Some prior grounding in the subject will help you move faster.

What will I learn in Mobile App Development with React Native & Expo: Build, Test and Publish a Real App from Nigeria?

You will build practical skills in Mobile app development, React Native, Expo, JavaScript and TypeScript, Expo Router navigation, Offline-first data with SQLite, Supabase backend and authentication, REST API integration, Device features and permissions, Push notifications, Mobile performance optimisation, App testing and debugging, Google Play publishing, App Store publishing, EAS Build and OTA updates, Mobile app compliance (Data Safety, NDPA). Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for Mobile App Development with React Native & Expo: Build, Test and Publish a Real App from Nigeria?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — Ship Your App to a Play Closed Test and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

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