Lagos has emerged as the fastest-growing emerging technology ecosystem in the world for 2025, outpacing leading cities like Istanbul, Mumbai, and Riyadh, according to a new report by Statisense, a data analytics firm renowned for tracking innovation across emerging economies.
The report, which was released on X, ranked Lagos ahead of cities like Pune, Belo Horizonte, and Johannesburg. Others in the top ten include Chennai, Curitiba, and Ho Chi Minh City. Statisense based its rankings on several key indicators, including unicorn counts, enterprise value, GDP per capita, funding growth, and cost of living.
This recognition places Nigeria’s commercial capital firmly on the map as a global innovation hotspot. It comes at a time when Africa’s digital economy is gaining renewed momentum through AI, cloud infrastructure, and 5G adoption.
Lagos: Innovation Fueled by Intentional Policy
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, speaking through Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat at the Art of Technology Lagos 6.0, attributed this success to deliberate government policies and targeted investments.
“Through deliberate policies and investments, we have created an enabling environment that fosters innovation and positioned Lagos as a global player in the technology value chain,” Hamzat said at the event themed “Artificial Intelligence and the Lagos Digital Economy.”
He noted that startups in Lagos raised over $1.2 billion in 2023, accounting for 75% of Nigeria’s total startup funding that year.
This impressive growth has been driven not just by local talent but also by support from the government and private sector collaborations that encourage innovation across fintech, edtech, healthtech, and more.
AI Set to Lead the Next Growth Curve
Also speaking at the event, Terrens Wu, Managing Director of Enterprise Business Group at Huawei Technologies, delivered a keynote that pointed to an AI-powered future.
According to him, the world is entering a new phase of growth defined by comprehensive intelligence. “By the end of this year, we expect that the demand for AI computing power may exceed the demand for general computing power,” he said.
He argued that cloud and 5G have accelerated digital transformation, and the next wave will be led by AI-native cloud infrastructure. This positions Lagos for more explosive growth if it continues to invest in digital infrastructure and AI training.
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