Beyond Lagos: The Quiet Rise of Startup Ecosystems in Kano, Ibadan and Port Harcourt
For a decade, Nigerian tech meant Yaba. Now founders priced out of Lagos — or simply tired of it — are building in cities the venture crowd flies over. The next big Nigerian company may not come from where you'd expect.
The pitch competition was in a repurposed office block in Ibadan, and the most striking thing about it was who was not there: the usual Lagos venture crowd. No investors flown in from Ikoyi, no Twitter-famous founders, no photographers. Just twelve local teams, a few regional angels, and a mentor who had come down from Lagos and kept marvelling that he had never bothered to visit before. "Everyone acts like Nigerian tech is one city," he told me afterwards, a little embarrassed. "I've been in this industry seven years and I never got on the expressway to look. There's real building happening h…
Audio version
Aminata Diallo
Léa Dubois-Kouassi
Discussion
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Log in to comment- Samuel Touré18 septembre 2025
Powerful piece. Sharing with everyone.
- Léa Kamau7 octobre 2025
Powerful piece. Sharing with everyone.
- Otieno Sangaré14 novembre 2025
I disagree with the framing, but it made me think.
- Nafissatou Kaboré27 novembre 2025
More of this, please. Subscribed.
- Ibrahima Diallo4 décembre 2025
Finally, a nuanced take on this. Bookmarked.
- Blaise Sow11 décembre 2025
Great reporting — the details make it.
- Kamau El Amrani13 décembre 2025
Powerful piece. Sharing with everyone.
- Christelle Mensah23 décembre 2025
Great reporting — the details make it.
- Chidi Achieng1 mars 2026
Powerful piece. Sharing with everyone.
- Awa Otieno22 mars 2026
The historical context here is gold.
- Yaa Mensah21 avril 2026
I disagree with the framing, but it made me think.
- Seydou Otieno14 juin 2026
Sharp and necessary. Thank you.
- Aminata Benali20 juin 2026
Finally, a nuanced take on this. Bookmarked.
- Mariama Boateng28 juin 2026
Powerful piece. Sharing with everyone.
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