Lagos Draws $3.9 billion Venture Funding, Targets Top Position in Africa Tech Implementation – Hamzat – eBusiness Life Magazine

Lagos State government says that the state has attracted about $3.9 billion in venture funding over the past five years as it works towards becoming one of Africa’s leading technology and innovation centres.

Speaking at the opening of technology Exhibition, GITEX Nigeria 2026 on Wednesday in Lagos, Deputy Governor, Kadri Obafemi Hamzat noted that the State has produced unicorns across fintech, logistics and e-commerce, with companies that started locally expanding into several markets.

According to him, Lagos would rank as the sixth-largest economy in Africa if it were a country. He also said the city has one of the largest startup ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa and ranks highly among African cities globally.

Its startup ecosystem, he said, has an estimated asset value of about $9 billion and attracted roughly $3.9 billion in venture funding over five years.

Hamzat, who represented Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the opening ceremony disclosed that the decision to bring GITEX Nigeria to Lagos showed the city’s economic importance rather than its ease of doing business.

Hamzat said GITEX had spent more than four decades following where the technology industry was growing. He argued that the decision to establish a Nigerian edition in Lagos followed the same principle.

“When GITEX came to Nigeria, when Lagos became its commercial anchor, that was not an experiment for us. It was a commercial judgement to choose Lagos because we don’t look at exhibitions for its market alone. We look at its capital and network.”

For Lagos, he said, the goal now extends beyond its status as Nigeria’s commercial capital. The state wants to become a major innovation centre for Africa, but Hamzat said that vision must rest on infrastructure, talent, policy and institutions.

He pointed to the size and…