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Lagos has fallen to 76th in StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2025, dropping out of the global top 70 it entered last year.
However, Lagos is still the most prominent African city on the list and Nigeria’s single representative in the global top 100.
The commercial hub scored 11.226 on the Index and recorded annual ecosystem growth of +14.7%, healthy growth by many measures, yet not enough to stop the slide in rank.
At national level, Nigeria now sits 66th globally; the country recorded $176.4m in startup funding in 2024, has two unicorns, and counts 57 Y Combinator startups, but national ecosystem growth is +5.4%, and Nigeria slipped two places overall.
Fintech is still the engine. The country “tops Africa’s unicorn charts” and the report reveals names you already know: Moniepoint and Flutterwave, both listed as unicorns and flagged among Lagos’ notable ecosystem champions (SB Scores: Moniepoint 669; Flutterwave 640). Nonetheless, the Index shows fintech’s success is concentrated: Lagos accounts for the vast majority of Nigeria’s startup growth.
In simple terms, Lagos tops other cities across Nigeria. StartupBlink finds Lagos’s ecosystem is 11.8 times larger than Abuja’s, illustrating how national performance hinges on one city.
Abuja did, however, post extraordinary growth this cycle, climbing into the global top 400 at 399th with annual growth above 50%, the only Nigerian city to record a global climb in 2025.
Other regional cities show mixed fortunes as Ibadan, Enugu, Port Harcourt and a newly listed Ilorin appear in the top 1,000 but most recorded declines.
There is momentum — and there are gaps. Lagos benefits from a dense support network: Lagos Angel Network, Growth Capital Fund, Ventures Platform and Greenhouse Capital all play visible roles, while non-profits such as FATE Foundation provide training and mentoring.
The federal architecture has started to respond: the Nigerian Startup Act, a National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and a Startup Investment Seed Fund are now on the books. The government has also struck a public-private arrangement with JICA to seed a new fund. These steps matter; they show policy finally following promise.
Infrastructure and capital remain the choke points. The report flags a shortage of financing options, low purchasing power, and a practical disconnect between Lagos and other local ecosystems.
It notes that Nigeria’s internet quality has improved, Starlink came in during 2023, and that NigComSat’s 2024 accelerator has begun to seed activity in space and satellite technologies (20 startups were selected for intensive spacetech mentorship). Still, the broader infrastructure deficit and limited local capital markets hold back scaling.
What this means for founders and investors
Lagos is still the gateway. If you are scaling a fintech or consumer startup with innovation across West Africa, Lagos offers the customers, talent and networks you need.
But I’d caution founders to plan for friction; payments, purchasing power limitations and uneven support outside Lagos are real risks. The Index suggests diversification of hubs inside Nigeria must be a priority if the country wants comprehensive, resilient growth.
A few immediate implications for policymakers and ecosystem builders (drawn from the report):
- Invest in road-and-digital infrastructure outside Lagos to reduce the games-of chance that currently shape who succeeds.
- Scale financing instruments that target growth (not just seed), and encourage closer ties between Lagos capital and provincial startups.
- Sustain public-private programmes (like the JICA fund and NigComSat accelerator) that move beyond pilot stage into long-term commitments.
To close, the StartupBlink Index 2025 shows that Lagos is Africa’s headline startup ecosystem and Nigeria’s growth engine. However, the nation’s overall ranking and the concentration of success in one city expose strategic fragilities.
If investors leverage Lagos as a launchpad, and aggressively invest in the next tier of cities, Nigerian entrepreneurship becomes broad, durable and not just Lagos-dependent.
