Despite a decline in investments in the African ecosystem, Nigeria continues to hold the 64th rank on the global startup index.
The nation’s funding decreased to $200 million in 2023 from over $800 million in 2022. In spite of this, Lagos moved up 12 places to rank among the top 100 startup cities globally. One of just two African cities in the worldwide top 100, StartupBlink is a global startup map and research center that spans 1,000 cities across 100 nations. Lagos ranks higher than other West African cities.
Nigeria dropped two spots to 64th place and ranked fourth in Africa in 2023. It halted the downward trend from the previous year and remained ranked fourth in Africa and 64th overall in the ranking.
With Kano’s inclusion in the survey this year, the nation now boasts six cities among the world’s top 1,000.
In the rankings, all six cities saw improvements. “Lagos is the strongest startup ecosystem in Nigeria, with a total score more than 15 times greater than Abuja, the 2nd ranked city, showing strong centralisation. Lagos excels in the Consumer Goods industry, ranking 1st in Africa for this industry,” StartupBlink stated.
The Global Research Center claims that Lagos is the top startup hub in the nation. Nigeria is currently leading Africa’s unicorn charts thanks to the fast regional expansion of businesses like Flutterwave and OPay.
According to StartupBlink, the nation’s public sector is beginning to see the potential of startups. The Nigerian Startup Act seeks to foster entrepreneurship by providing a framework of laws and institutions for the creation and management of startups.
“Other initiatives, such as the Startup Nigeria incubator or the Co-Creation Hub, will hopefully continue to foster the entrepreneurial spirit in the country. Moreover, there are other support organisations such as Lagos Angel Network, Growth Capital Fund, Ventures Platform, and Greenhouse Capital that provide funding for local startups,” “It (Lagos) is also an established and fast-growing tech hub, home to more than 400 startups, 88 per cent of Nigeria’s total,”.
To assist realize the ecosystem’s full potential, the nation still has to address its inadequate governmental support and inadequacies in infrastructure. This is despite the success stories of its digital sector.
According to Startup Genome (2023), the value of Lagos’s technological ecosystem in 2022 was approximately $8.4 billion. Even if it was remarkable for the area, the ecosystem development organization pointed out that it was still less than the $34.6 billion global average.
