In October at Ibadan Tech Expo , an annual tech event that brings together tech enthusiasts and startups in Ibadan, Nigeria, I got into conversation with Zee*, a Lagos-based founder whose startup, a marketplace platform for Artisans, was one of the startups who sponsored the event. We talked at length on the Nigerian tech ecosystem with a focus on the Ibadan Tech Ecosystem, she told me “I know a lot about Ibadan because I went to secondary school and University here (she is a graduate of the university of Ibadan).” “So why did you not stay to work in Ibadan? Why did you run away?” I asked her jokingly. After years of working in Ibadan and talking to people who have left the city for pastures anew, I knew what her answer was going to be, and it was just as I expected. “Because I couldn’t get an offer that would offer me the kind of compensation I want for my skills.” I had to grudgingly admit that she had a point.
The purpose of mentioning this conversation in this piece is not to slight the Ibadan Tech ecosystem. At any rate, while there is no doubt that Nigeria’s tech ecosystem is thriving, one challenge threatens its long-term sustainability: brain drain. Ibadan to Lagos migration is only a micro illustration of a much larger problem with the Nigerian tech ecosystem– the “Japa” movement that has seen many of the country’s brightest tech talents leave Nigeria for better opportunities abroad.
According to the National Population Commission (NPC) more than 10,000 tech professionals, many of them middle to senior level professionals have left the country for countries in the west such as the USA, the UK and Canada between 2024 and 2025. According to Kayode Adebayo, Founder at Ckrowd, a talent hiring and outsourcing agency for music industry professional in Africa, that uses AI to match professionals with opportunities, “African talent is generally in high demand globally. Both music industry professionals who are our primary target audience, and developers, designers, and data scientists, who we work with due to the influence of tech in music. So, the movement out of Nigeria will only get worse unless our government does something, because they will always find somewhere to go.”
Even when they do not physically leave the shores of the country, Nigerian tech professionals are now working remotely for firms in Europe and North America, earning in USD while living locally. For Nigerian start-ups, competing with those salary scales is nearly impossible. The result is a growing talent vacuum that stifles growth. According to Ayoola Lawal, Managing Partner at LRA Consulting “If we don’t find a way to stem this tide of lost talent, we risk stalling our progress.”
However regardless of the grim reality of the knowledge and skill gaps that “Japa” has created in the tech ecosystem, Nigerian startups and tech companies are anything if not resilient, and it is that resilience that is enabling them in competing in the global tech space.
The Remote Revolution
Ironically, the same remote work trend that drains talent also offers solutions. Start-ups are embracing hybrid and fully remote teams to attract skilled professionals who prefer flexibility. Companies like Andela pioneered this model, and others like Flutterwave and Paystack have followed suit by hiring global talent for specific roles. Alice Omoyemi Co-Founder of Induedge, a talent outsourcing platform similar to Ckrowd but for Sales and Marketing professionals instead of music industry professionals, believes that one way by which brain drain can be minimized is to not only position Nigerian tech professionals for opportunities to earn remotely, but to also to make sure that they are upskilled enough to be able to deliver quality regardless of location of their clients. She believes that if professionals get the advantage of flexible hours and clear career paths, they are less likely to want to leave Nigeria to go abroad.
Musty Mustapha, Co- Founder at Kuda agrees with Alice’s submission. In his opinion Nigeria’s tech scene must embrace a “talent ecosystem” approach, nurturing continuous learning and collaboration. He believes that there is a widespread belief that most employees leave because of money and all that is needed to satisfy and employee is proper compensation, “you can’t outspend the pull of a toxic environment. The true sustainable solution to retaining our brightest minds is in two things: a strong positive culture and a genuine investment in their growth.” Start-ups that treat employees as long-term partners, not short-term hires, will survive this era. The new playbook is simple: empower, connect, and grow your people wherever they are.
While the solutions advanced by both Alice and Musty still don’t address the knowledge and skill gaps that “Japa” usually creates in Nigerian organizations, after all a senior developer doesn’t just have the skills, they also have years of experience that no tech course can replicate. So as Ayoola Lawal argues, the government still needs to fix the country’s economy, but given that fixing the country is a long-term process, the immediate solution is to keep upskilling younger generation of tech talent so that the pipeline continues to flow.
Leveraging the African Diaspora
Another way local startups are solving the brain drain problem is that rather than seeing brain drain as a loss, forward-thinking founders are leveraging the Nigerian tech diaspora. Many developers abroad are mentoring or freelancing for local start-ups. Diaspora-led partnerships are also unlocking access to foreign markets and investments. Kayode Adebayo tells me that in September this year, Ckrowd collaborated with Arts Connect Africa, a pan-African community of music industry professionals and the Embassy of Spain in Nigeria to train local creatives in Ibadan, Nigeria. We also have a virtual seminar series where music industry professionals, some of whom are based abroad mentor young industry professionals. It ensures that while they may not be physically present in the country, their skills and talents are not lost.
There is no gainsaying the fact that brain drain of tech talent is real, and it is not likely to go away anytime soon, but tech startups are learning to turn a disadvantage into an opportunity by rethinking how they hire, train, and retain talent. Nigeria’s according to popular projections could grow by an additional 50 million by 2030. A large percentage of them will be youths and it is a great opportunity for Nigerian tech founders to turn a crisis into a competitive edge. The next wave of Nigerian innovation will come not just from Lagos or Abuja, but from Nigerians coding from every corner of the world.
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