Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria’s lagoon city, Africa’s leading NEPAD City and World’s sixth megacity is a burgeoning global urban agglomeration which attained megacity status in 1995 when its population soared to over 10 million people, per UN-Habitat. From its global city ranking of 31st in 1985, Lagos population exploded to 13.4 million in Y2000 to become world’s sixth megacity and Africa’s foremost urban centre and hub of national, regional and global socio-economic and political activities.
Named after the Portuguese word for lagoon on account of its wetland topography and network of lagoons, Lagos, the largest city in Africa, was until 1991, the capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is the chief commercial, financial and maritime nerve-center of Nigeria, with a GNP triple that of any other West African country.
Lagos is a tourist haven with numerous ancient cultural and historical sites and also home to the longest natural canopy walkway in Africa. Of Nigeria’s over 700 km Atlantic sandy beaches, the State has the majority with its 180 km coconut-fringed Atlantic littoral which consists of several beaches rising to about 20 between Badagry in the west and Lekki in the east.
Victoria Island is one of the most exclusive areas of Nigeria with an array of world-class restaurants, shopping malls, hotels, bars, and theatres. Most major Nigerian and international corporations have their headquarters on this Island.