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Africa: Lagos Overtakes Nairobi As Africa’s Leading Startup Hub

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5 years ago

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Abuja ranked third nationally, fell 12 spots to 466th, while Port Harcourt decreased by six spots to 906th.

Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos, has overtaken Nairobi, Kenya, to become Africa’s top startup ecosystem.

According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021, released by StartupBlink, Lagos switched places with Nairobi as the continent’s top start-up hub.

“The Nigerian city of Lagos has become the top African startup ecosystem, ranked 122nd after switching places with Nairobi, Kenya, which now ranks 136th,” the report said.

Lagos is also ranked in the global top 50 cities for E-commerce & Retail Technology and in the global top 100 for both Transportation Technology and Education Technology, the report said.

Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, saw a massive increase in ranking, jumping 601 spots to 353rd globally and second in Nigeria, surpassing the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

The nation’s capital ranked 3rd nationally, fell 12 spots to 466th, while Port Harcourt decreased by 6 spots to 906th.

The report said the newest Nigerian city in the rankings, Enugu, ranks 978th globally and 5th nationally.

Benin City increased nine spots to 979th, while Kano jumped 14 spots to 981st.

In total, Nigeria has seven cities in the global top 1000 and continues to have the highest number of ranked cities of any African nation.

Index

The Global Startup Ecosystem Index is built using data points processed by an algorithm that takes into account several dozens of parameters including the number of startups, the size of the domestic market, the ease of doing business, amongst others.

The report said the top 5 countries have all maintained their rank from last year, although there are several deep changes.

The United States maintains a massive lead over the 2nd ranked United Kingdom as the effect of Brexit finally takes effect.

Buoyed by its massive consumer market and more than 500 active startups, one of the largest in Africa, Nigeria saw a notable increase, leaping 5 spots to now rank 63rd globally.

However, the nation still remains 3rd in Africa behind South Africa and Kenya.

Regional Outlook

The Middle East and Africa region saw very positive momentum in the rankings this year. The region has a total of 74 startup ecosystems represented in the global top 1,000 cities ranking, up from 55 during the previous year.