Lagos: The Heart of Africa’s Tech Scene
The potential for countries in Africa to play a defining role in the development of emerging technology has been clear for years. From South Africa to Egypt, tech hubs are springing up across the continent that rival similar hotspots in Europe, Asia and the Americas. One of the most publicised is the Nigerian capital, Lagos.
You can find articles dating as far back as 2013 speculating as to whether Lagos will set to play a central role in an African technology movement, or declaring the city Africa’s Silicon Valley. Lagos already has the largest tech hub ecosystem in Africa, according to a report released by GSMA in March 2018, while coworking spaces are popping up to cater for the new breed of digital nomads making the city their home.
We’ve looked at why a boom in both population and investment have seen it arguably fulfil this promise.
International Interests Reflects Internal Growth
Lagos is already the largest city in Africa and it is growing at a pace, featuring high in just about every list of the fastest growing cities in the world. According to the Populations Reference Bureau, the city is expected to double in size over the next 15 years. This will bring a host of challenges and opportunities for the tech industry to grapple with — tech solutions will be under development to ease the growing pains of an already large city, while a bigger market and increased prominence in the African economy will bring increased international interest.
Lagos’ growing importance on the tech scene has been reflected in interest from the world’s biggest tech companies. The city is Facebook’s biggest market in Africa and in 2018, Facebook launched its first African hub in Lagos. The physical space, which was built in partnership with CcHub, aims to bring together those working on emerging technology in the city to collaborate, learn and exchange ideas. In 2017, Google also established its first Launchpad space outside of the US in the city and started to run regular problem-solving boot camps for early-stage startups working in fields including emerging tech.
These startups are also catered for by Lagos Startup Week, which began in 2015. The event has grown rapidly, expanding to 12 tracks in 2018 and welcoming more than 5000 attendees.
Following the Blueprint
Just as in London’s Silicon Roundabout or Berlin’s Silicon Allee — let’s face it, every major tech city has an equivalent — Nigeria’s tech scene congregate in its Yabacon Valley (or Silicon Lagoon, depending on your preference). The area is thriving, home to hundreds of banking institutions and tech startups.
The proliferation of these startups has led to an influx of venture capitalists, angel investors, those looking to work in technology and, of course, media attention. The bulk of the investment is currently coming from a mixture of local firms and international non-profit impact funds. One local investment fund is the Lagos Angel Network, founded by local investor Tomi Davies, while the international investment comes from funds like Accion Venture Lab, a US-based non-profit investment vehicle which has projects ongoing in four continents. An extensive list of the various hubs, investment sources and incubators can be found here.
The area has benefitted from its overwhelmingly online population and the country’s growing technology-savvy middle class. In fact, Lagos is even suffering from some of the same problems faced by the likes of London and New York, including the fact that prices are climbing. This doesn’t seem to have dampened much of the hype, though.
All of this progress is happening against a backdrop of shaky internet connections, unstable power supplies and a fluctuating currency. According to the Financial Times, though Nigeria’s tech startups have been fearless in their development, it may be some time before the ecosystem is mature enough to attract the very best investors and entrepreneurs. Even so, with the population of the country projected to surpass that of even the US, there is both the burning need for tech solutions and the opportunity for those that find the solutions to corner a vast market.
Battling Uncertainty
One problem Nigeria as a country faces is its uncertain currency. The unpredictability of the Nigerian naira means that as much as 80% of the funding kickstarting Nigerian startups comes from offshore. There are concerns, then, that the dividends will be taken elsewhere and Nigeria will not see the real solutions to basic needs that it requires as its population balloons. As more Nigerian startups and domestic startup incubators emerge, though, the ecosystem is likely to develop to a point at which it can sustain itself and benefit the country first.
For now, it will be interesting to see if this wave of interest and enthusiasm around Lagos can continue growing. If it can, then the city presents a unique opportunity thanks to its impending growth and status as an entire continent’s most buzzing tech scene. Lagos is hosting international conferences, has interest from major powers in tech, is seeing an influx of talent and investment from overseas and is rapidly getting its tech infrastructure up to speed. The scale of the investment into Lagos might only be a fraction of that of London or Berlin at this point, but there is nothing to suggest that the Nigerian capital isn’t on course to rival Europe’s major tech hubs in the medium to long-term future.
Does Lagos sound like the right city for Primalbase? If you think it sounds like it’s ripe for one of our tech-focused shared workspaces, nominate here.
