Sanwo-Olu Says Lagos Is Defining Africa’s Urban Growth Path

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has told an audience at Harvard Kennedy School that Lagos is shaping how African cities grow, as pressure mounts on urban centres across the continent.

Speaking at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum in Boston, Sanwo-Olu said Africa is in a period of fast city expansion and argued that Lagos is already setting the pace in population growth, transport reform, technology investment and public policy experimentation.

The forum, titled “Africa’s Urban Future: Cities at the Crossroads of Growth and Resilience,” was hosted by the Institute of Politics and co-sponsored by the Harvard University Center for African Studies and the Bloomberg Center for Cities. The event brought together global stakeholders, including Monrovia Mayor John-Charuk Siafa, to examine how African cities are dealing with climate pressure, public health concerns, governance demands and major infrastructure gaps.

Sanwo-Olu said his administration’s THEMES+ agenda is the framework behind current projects in transport, tourism, technology, security and social inclusion. He said the state is using that blueprint to respond to growth pressures, including environmental stress and waste management challenges tied to population increase.

He also linked Lagos’ current direction to wider continental trends. According to him, African cities are urbanising at about 3.5 per cent yearly and the region is positioned for strong growth, with large critical mineral reserves and a young population pushing new enterprise activity.

The governor said, “Lagos State has been ranked as Africa’s second-largest city in terms of population after Cairo, Egypt.”

He pointed to transport upgrades as visible evidence of change, citing the Blue Line and Red Line rail projects. He also highlighted Lagos’ technology footprint, saying the state hosted more than 2,000 startups in 2025 and was ranked the world’s fastest-growing tech ecosystem that year.

Sanwo-Olu added that Lagos attracted $2.73 billion, representing 45 per cent of Nigeria’s total capital inflows in the third quarter of 2025. He said the state has 26 tertiary institutions and is home to five fintech unicorns valued above $1 billion each.

On public finance, he said Lagos generated ₦1.26 trillion in internally generated revenue in 2024, equivalent to $821.9 million and 35 per cent of Nigeria’s total IGR. He added that Lagos accounts for 10 per cent of Nigeria’s population, while people aged 15 to 34 make up 40 per cent of the state’s residents.

He also referred to the year-end return of Nigerians in the diaspora, widely branded as Detty December, as part of Lagos’ economic and cultural pull. He said the city’s next phase depends on steady investment, policy execution and partnerships that can support inclusive growth at scale.