Lagos climbs global startup rankings as Nigeria faces slower ecosystem growth
Nigeria ranked first in Africa in the ecosystem value functional category, outperforming its third-place overall ranking in Africa and indicating a high level of financial value from startup activity.
The story of Nigeria’s startup ecosystem is built around Lagos— the nation’s commercial city, home to 987 startups, accounting for nearly 67% of all startups in Nigeria. Lagos remains the highest-ranked city on the continent and 70th globally, posting 23.0% growth, according to the latest Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026 by StartupBlink.
However, Lagos is not the only Nigerian city making waves; Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and Enugu are also among the top cities in Nigeria in the Global 1000. Of particular interest is Enugu, one of the states in South-Eastern Nigeria, where the regional development commission has an ambitious plan to grow its regional economy to $200 billion by 2035. The coal city has risen by almost 40% over the last year and is now on the Global 1000 list.
“Enugu is implementing a deliberate, capital-ready innovation ecosystem under our digital economy transformation strategy,” Ainze Chilo-Offiah, Special Adviser, Governor on digital economy, explains, “our innovation programs, anchored by initiatives like the Enugu Campus Hackathon, discover and structure high-quality founders, while our tech and innovation hub scales them into globally competitive ventures.”
After moving up six places, Lagos remains dominant; its total score is almost ten times that of Abuja, indicating that Nigeria’s centre of excellence remains the primary hub, with other cities playing second fiddle. But strengthening secondary hubs could help broaden the ecosystem’s geographic reach.
Port Harcourt’s 82.0% growth rate is the fastest among Nigerian cities, while Ibadan is the only Nigerian city to decline in position this year.
Top 10 startup cities in Nigeria |Source: Startupblink
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