The fading façades of century-old buildings in a neighbourhood of the Nigerian megacity of Lagos house a vibrant technology cluster that’s caught the eye of Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.
The Yaba area, home to the Yaba College of Technology and the University of Lagos, is an emerging technology ecosystem – from fewer than 10 startups in 2013 to more than 60 today, including businesses like booking site Hotels.ng. It also hosts digital labs for Nigeria’s oldest bank, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, and Stanbic IBTC, the local subsidiary of Africa’s largest lender.