Lagos State has been named Africa’s most start-up-friendly city in a new global ranking by Multipolitan, underscoring the city’s growing influence as the continent’s leading hub for venture-backed innovation.
The ranking was released in Multipolitan’s Startup Friendly Cities Index 2026, which assesses how attractive major cities around the world are to founders, investors and innovators seeking environments that support the growth of high-impact start-ups.
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The Singapore-headquartered international mobility platform states that the index evaluates cities using a two-stage methodology, examining national conditions such as venture capital activity, deal inclusiveness, and the presence of unicorn companies, before comparing cities across key indicators, including talent attraction, startup density, digital connectivity, quality of life, and business agility.
The Index uses a two-stage approach. First, it evaluates national conditions, including venture capital activity, the inclusiveness of investment deals, and the number of unicorn companies.
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Secondly, it compares cities across five key areas: talent attraction, start-up activity, digital connectivity, quality of life and business agility.
Data-driven insight
The report provides data-driven insight into what makes cities work for start-ups, linking founders’ everyday experiences with the broader systems that support innovation.
In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, the platform stated that Lagos’s strong start-up ecosystem, growing investment opportunities, and expanding tech and creative sectors make it Africa’s most dynamic centre for entrepreneurship and innovation.
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The platform noted that with infrastructure improvements, clearer regulations, and better urban living conditions, Lagos could leverage its current momentum to achieve global competitiveness similar to that of leading innovation hubs.
It also noted that Lagos has become a key symbol of Africa’s tech story, hosting thousands of early-stage companies, especially in fintech, which use the city as a base to develop scalable solutions.
According to the report, Lagos scores highly in founder density, market size and sector diversity, and already operates like a high-potential global city that is still in the early stages of growth.
Raw entrepreneurial energy
The Executive Partner at Multipolitan, Chee Okebalama, said Lagos possesses the raw entrepreneurial energy needed to become Africa’s start-up capital.
Ms Okebalama noted that the analysis revealed founders in Lagos are developing world-class solutions across finance, e-commerce and digital infrastructure, often despite operating in resource-constrained conditions.
She added that persistent structural gaps in power supply, transportation and broadband access mean many entrepreneurs are forced to innovate around systemic fragilities.
“Lagos has a scale, urgency and ingenuity that are very hard to replicate. It has the raw entrepreneurial energy to be Africa’s start-up capital, and that energy is increasingly being matched by ecosystem players who want to build around it,” said Ms Okebalama.
She said Lagos could further enhance its attractiveness by investing in developer-friendly live-work districts and by strengthening mobility, healthcare and housing infrastructure.
She also noted the need for targeted visa and residency pathways that would enable founders and tech professionals from across Africa to come to Nigeria and build from Lagos.
“The ambition of Lagosian entrepreneurs is unparalleled. What matters now is how quickly the city can reduce friction for talent, investors and operators.
“Lagos already behaves like a start-up capital. Full global recognition will come as its infrastructure and governance catch up with its ambition,” added Ms Okebalama.
Foreign exchange
Furthermore, Nicholas Michael, Group Head of Market Development at Multipolitan, said investor confidence in African technology remains resilient.
He noted that regulatory volatility in areas such as foreign exchange, fintech licensing and digital assets continues to influence how capital is allocated between Lagos, other African cities and global hubs.
“The next phase is not about whether Lagos can produce more unicorns. It is about whether the city can match its entrepreneurial firepower with the infrastructure, regulatory confidence and quality of life needed for sustained innovation”, said Mr Michael.
He said Lagos and Nigeria could tip the balance in their favour by adopting more transparent regulatory roadmaps, maintaining consistent sector-wide rules, and relying more on time-bound regulatory sandboxes rather than sudden policy changes.
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Mr Michael also noted that easing the movement of capital for both local and international investors, alongside more transparent and more predictable investment frameworks, would further strengthen the city’s ambitions.
The Index concluded that Lagos’s entrepreneurial pull is too strong to be ignored.
It added that Lagos’s ultimate standing among global innovation hubs would depend less on a single breakthrough success and more on its ability to build a coordinated ecosystem where innovation, capital and policy advance at the same pace as its entrepreneurial community.
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