The Nigerian city saw a 11.6-fold increase in enterprise value, reaching $15.3 billion and producing five unicorns, placing it ahead of 287 cities across 69 countries.
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, has emerged as the world’s number one rising star in tech, according to a new Global Tech Ecosystem Index published by intelligence platform Dealroom.
The index, which benchmarks startup ecosystems worldwide, highlights Lagos as a fast-rising contender among traditional tech giants in the Bay Area, China, and Europe.
In 2024 alone, startups in the city raised $158 million in funding, helping solidify Lagos as Africa’s leading tech hub, outpacing Johannesburg in South Africa and Kampala in Uganda, which are ranked as the continent’s other top emerging ecosystems.
Globally, Lagos shares the spotlight with Istanbul, Pune, Belo Horizonte, and Mumbai as cities expected to define the future of tech innovation.
Loading...
“The city’s first unicorns are emerging, and providing the example to other would-be entrepreneurs that big global tech companies can be built in Lagos,” says Yoram Wijngaarde, Dealroom founder, to FORBES AFRICA.
According to Wijngaarde, the momentum is strong, but sustained growth will require greater access to venture and growth capital, skilled tech talent, and clear regulatory frameworks, especially in core sectors such as fintech and mobility.
Lagos, once the capital of Nigeria and a key colonial port, has transformed into a megacity of over 20 million people. The city’s tech evolution began in the early 2000s with the adoption of mobile internet accelerated by diaspora investment, a large youthful population, and localized solutions to financial and logistical challenges.
Nigeria is famously home to five unicorns: Moniepoint, Flutterwave, OPay, Interswitch and Andela.
The Yaba district, often dubbed Nigeria’s Silicon Valley, became an early hub for innovation, helped by proximity to institutions like the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Founders and engineers began building startups that solved uniquely Nigerian problems, from payment infrastructure to e-commerce logistics, eventually attracting global venture capital.
But, for Ayotunde Alabi, it doesn’t mean Lagos has gotten everything right.
“To accelerate growth, we need to address infrastructure challenges (like electricity and broadband penetration), enhance digital literacy across socio-economic segments, and foster more collaborative policymaking between regulators and innovators,’’ Alabi, the CEO of crypto platform Luno Nigeria, tells FORBES AFRICA.
He adds that the ecosystem needs to transition from venture capital (VC)-driven expansion to sustainable, revenue-generating models that create long-term jobs.
For Kola Aina, Founding Partner at pan-African early-stage VC firm Ventures Platform, despite record VC investment, most of it (about 67%) goes to fintech. Other sectors like healthtech, edtech, and cleantech remain underfunded.
‘’Some gaps remain, including talent pipeline. Only 5% of Nigeria’s 750,000 annual graduates possess advanced digital skills, according to the World Bank. Upskilling programs like 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT), ALX Nigeria, Andela, AltSchool, and others are critical but need scaling,’’ Aina shares with FORBES AFRICA.
The experts all agree smaller economies shouldn’t aim to replicate Lagos outright but localize its strategies by solving problems unique to their context, like agency banking in Lagos.
‘’Develop innovation clusters around tertiary institutions. Leverage public-private partnerships and nurture local angel investors. Build startups with cross-border expansion in mind,’’ Aina recommends.
The goal, as Wijngaarde puts it, should be to create ecosystem flywheels: dynamic cycles of startup creation, talent development, investment, and policy support that feed off one another.
‘’Regional collaboration can also help smaller markets punch above their weight. Blockchain and digital asset innovation present an opportunity to leapfrog traditional systems. Countries that embrace these technologies thoughtfully can fast-track financial inclusion, reduce remittance costs, and create new value chains in the digital economy,’’ Alabi submits.
Loading...