Nigeria has dropped to 66th place in the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Index by StartupBlink, falling two spots from 64th in 2024.

In Africa, Nigeria now ranks fourth, showing the slowest growth—less than 6%—among the continent’s top seven startup hubs.

StartupBlink ranks countries based on the level of startup activity, the impact and success of those startups, and how supportive the environment is for startup growth.

This decline highlights challenges Nigeria faces in boosting its startup ecosystem compared to other African nations.

Despite the overall drop, Nigeria continues to lead West Africa’s startup scene, holding the top spot in the region since 2021.

Six Nigerian cities ranked among the top 10 startup hubs in West Africa, with six also making it into the global top 1,000. However, most of these cities experienced a decline in their rankings, raising questions about the country’s capacity to sustain its startup growth.

Lagos, long known as Nigeria’s startup capital, remains the country’s top ecosystem but dropped six places to 76th globally, falling out of the global top 70 it had entered just last year.

The report highlights that Lagos still hosts Africa’s largest startup ecosystem, which is 11.8 times bigger than Abuja’s, its closest national rival.

Meanwhile, Abuja showed remarkable growth, becoming the only Nigerian city to improve in the global rankings—jumping over 50% to 399th—signaling its rise as a fast-growing tech hub.

Ilorin made its debut in the global top 1,000, reflecting a gradual spread of Nigeria’s startup activity beyond Lagos.

The StartupBlink report highlights Nigeria’s strength in Africa due to its large domestic market of over 200 million people, expected to double by 2050.

Nigeria also leads Africa’s unicorn scene, with fast-growing companies like Flutterwave and OPay, and is home to Jumia Group, a major pan-African e-commerce and fintech giant.

Fintech continues to dominate Nigeria’s startup scene, driving much of the innovation and attracting strong investor interest.

Despite ongoing challenges like limited financing, low consumer purchasing power, and infrastructure gaps, Nigeria’s startup ecosystem benefits from a combination of public and private support.