•Governor speaks at Africa Week 2026, King’s College London
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has described Lagos as a living testament to African possibility. He said Lagos occupies a very small fraction of Nigeria’s landmass, yet it has grown into one of the most economically consequential urban centres on the continent.
He said Lagos, which is now Africa’s second-largest city economy, with a GDP at roughly US$259 billion on a purchasing power parity basis, remains Nigeria’s principal commercial gateway, a major destination for capital, enterprise, talent and ideas, and one of the clearest examples anywhere in Africa of how a sub-national government can shape not only local outcomes but also wider regional and global conversations.
Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke at the closing ceremony of Africa Week 2026, organised by King’s College London at the African Leadership Centre, United Kingdom, on the topic titled “Exercising Agency beyond the Nation-State: Debating Change and Transformation in the Global City, Lagos”, on Friday evening.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, expressed sincere appreciation to King’s College London for the invitation to be part of Africa Week 2026, and said the theme of the event, “Exercising Agency beyond the Nation-State”, is both timely and important because for a long time, much of the conversation about power, development and influence has been framed almost exclusively around national governments.
He added that Lagos is relevant to the conversation because it has demonstrated how policy and enterprise can reinforce each other, noting that Lagos has emerged as the anchor of Nigeria’s startup landscape and one of the most dynamic technology ecosystems in the world. He reminded participants that Lagos was recently ranked the world’s fastest-growing tech ecosystem, noting that the State hosts more than 2,000 startups and has produced five unicorns across fintech and digital commerce.
He said: “My own conviction, since assuming office in 2019, has been that Lagos must be governed not as a problem to be managed, but as a platform to be unlocked. That is the spirit behind our development philosophy in Lagos, captured in our THEMES+ agenda. We needed an operating system that could hold together the complexity of a megacity: transport and traffic management; health and environment; education and technology; making Lagos a 21st-century megacity; environment and tourism; security and governance; and, importantly, social inclusion, gender equality and youth.
“This framework became even more necessary because Lagos, like many global cities, has had to confront overlapping shocks in recent years: the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid population expansion, rising climate risks and a very substantial infrastructure financing gap. One of the clearest expressions of urban agency is mobility. A city that cannot move people efficiently cannot unlock productivity, dignity or inclusion. That is why transport has been central to our work.
“In the years since 2019, Lagos has accelerated the building of a genuinely multimodal transport system. The Blue Line rail began passenger operations; the Red Line was inaugurated as a second intra-city rail corridor, and we have continued work around roads, bridges, bus reforms and water transport as part of a broader mobility architecture.
“Our integrated transport payment system has also expanded digital access for commuters. These are not isolated projects. They are part of a deliberate attempt to change how a city of Lagos’ scale works, minute by minute, journey by journey.”
The Governor also disclosed that “Since 2019, our administration has tried to remain focused on the fundamentals that give people confidence in government: roads and bridges that improve movement; housing that expands access; security support that improves response; emergency systems that save lives; schools and digital tools that prepare young people for a changing economy; and public institutions that are more responsive than they were before.
“Our project portfolio reflects this breadth: over 3,000 affordable housing units delivered in recent years, 250 new patrol vehicles to reinforce security architecture, 62 fire trucks to strengthen emergency response, investments in education infrastructure, and major efforts around food systems, including the Imota Rice Mill and wider logistics planning. These are the kinds of building blocks through which urban confidence is restored.
Governor Sanwo-Olu stressed further that “The Lagos of today is not just growing in population; it is growing in productive capacity,” adding that “Our 2026 budget of ₦4.44 trillion reflects an ambition to keep investing in infrastructure, social services and economic competitiveness at scale.”
“Lagos continues to account for an outsized share of capital importation and internally generated revenue in Nigeria. We are doing this not because cities should compete destructively with the nation-state, but because a strong Lagos strengthens Nigeria, just as strong cities strengthen nations everywhere. Urban productivity is not a threat to national development; it is one of its clearest foundations,” he said.
Speaking further on the State Government’s commitment to the growth and development of Lagos, Governor Sanwo-Olu said his administration has created an environment where government does not suffocate enterprise but rather clears a path for it through enabling platforms, regulation, talent formation, connectivity, payments infrastructure and the confidence to let innovation scale.
He said his administration has also paid attention to the creative economy by treating culture as economic infrastructure. “In Lagos, music is an industry. Film is an industry. Fashion is an industry. Design is industry. Digital content is an industry. Identity itself becomes productive capital. Nollywood’s scale, the density of production companies in Lagos, the global reach of our musicians, the visibility of our fashion ecosystem, and even new frontiers such as technology-themed filmmaking all point to a city in which creativity is not merely expressive but developmental. It creates jobs, attracts visitors, builds narrative power and projects African modernity on our terms.”
Speaking on the need for African cities to exercise agency beyond inherited limits, Governor Sanwo-Olu advised that they must confront climate risk not as a side conversation but as a central development issue.
“One cannot speak honestly about the future of Lagos without speaking about climate resilience. For Lagos, this is especially urgent. Rising sea levels, flooding, coastal vulnerability, sanitation pressure and rapid urban growth all compel us to think differently. That is why we launched the Lagos Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan in 2024, why we have continued to develop climate investment frameworks, why we raised a green bond to support climate-resilient projects, and why we are pursuing interventions around drainage, waste, clean mobility, solar integration and climate-smart infrastructure. Resilience is not separate from development. In a city like Lagos, resilience is development.
“Exercising agency beyond the nation-state does not mean rejecting the nation-state. It means recognising that in our time, effective leadership must be distributed across multiple levels. National governments remain indispensable. But so too are cities, regions, communities, universities, innovators and markets. The challenge before Africa is not to choose between these layers. It is to align them intelligently.
“Lagos has tried to play its part in that alignment. We have worked with the private sector because government alone cannot finance the future. We have worked with multilateral and development partners because cities benefit from collaboration. We have worked with investors because capital must meet credible policy. And we have increasingly sought engagement with academic institutions because ideas matter. The future of public leadership will depend on how well governments learn, listen and adapt. That is one reason I consider platforms such as this especially valuable.
“So, when we speak of agency beyond the nation-state, let us not imagine something abstract or distant. Let us think instead of the everyday work of building cities that can carry the weight of the future. Let us think of transport systems that restore time to working people. Let us think of digital ecosystems that turn young talent into global enterprise. Let us think of creative industries that change how Africa is seen. Let us think of climate action that protects both lives and livelihoods. Let us think of governance that is close enough to feel the pressure and bold enough to answer it. That, for me, is the meaning of Lagos.”
