Nigeria, Oct. 26 -- Lagos, the frenetic coastal megacity where yellow buses jostle with tech hubs and skyscrapers shadow informal markets, is fast becoming shorthand for Africa's startup moment. Over the last decade, the city has produced high-growth fintechs, ride-hailing platforms, and logistics plays that together have reframed how investors, policy makers and founders think about African technology. But is Lagos genuinely the continent's equivalent of Silicon Valley, an enduring diversified engine of innovation and capital or a dazzling cluster of winners whose shine risks masking structural fragilities?

This article takes stock of the recent winners that make Lagos headline-worthy, the ecosystem forces that propel (and constrain) th...