Despite being home to five tech unicorns and ranking as Africa’s leading startup ecosystem, Lagos, Nigeria is one of the lowest-paying hubs for software developers globally — including within Africa itself. A new report from Startup Genome has cast a stark spotlight on the global wage disparities facing tech workers in emerging markets.
According to the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Report by Startup Genome, the average annual salary for a software developer in Lagos has dropped to just $7,500 — less than one-seventh of the global average of $52,000. This places Nigeria behind every major African tech ecosystem surveyed, except Addis Ababa and Accra. In comparison, developers in Nairobi earn $14,700 per year, while those in Johannesburg — Africa’s highest-paying tech city — command $42,000.
For a country that has produced unicorns like Flutterwave, Andela, Interswitch, OPay, and eTranzact, the figure is jarring. It mirrors salary levels in India’s Kerala state, where developers earn around $6,000 per year, despite India’s significantly higher global integration in the tech economy.
Nigeria’s Paradox: Unicorns but Underpaid Workers
Lagos leads sub-Saharan Africa in startup funding and investor activity and consistently ranks high in performance and talent experience. Yet the city’s software developers earn a fraction of what their counterparts make in global tech centers.
In Silicon Valley, a software developer earns an average of $156,000 annually. Salaries in other cities are also far ahead: $160,000 in New York City, $78,000 in London, $66,000 in Singapore, $61,000 in Paris, and even $36,000 in Sharjah, UAE. In contrast, developers in Lagos, at $7,500, earn barely more than 4.8% of what their peers in Silicon Valley receive.
The report’s findings reveal a paradox at the heart of Nigeria’s tech rise: while venture capital flows into Nigerian startups and billion-dollar valuations make headlines, the average worker behind the code remains economically marginalized.
Startup Genome’s data presents a broader view of the African tech wage gap. In 2024, the average annual salaries across Africa’s top ecosystems were already low compared to global peers: $14,000 in Nairobi, $11,000 in Lagos, $10,300 in Tunis, $5,000 in Accra, and $4,000 in Addis Ababa. In 2025, most figures remained stagnant or declined, with Lagos experiencing one of the sharpest drops.
Yet, these ecosystems continue to attract global investor attention. Nigeria’s startup ecosystem has produced multiple unicorns in under a decade and ranks in the 61–70 range globally among emerging startup ecosystems. Nairobi and Johannesburg remain competitive in talent and knowledge outputs respectively, even as salary levels remain uncompetitive.
The salary stagnation comes at a time when many global startup ecosystems are also facing a valuation downturn. In 2025, global ecosystem value dropped 31% in aggregate, with sub-Saharan Africa faring relatively better with a 17% decline. Nigeria’s ecosystem saw a 5% contraction in value since 2020, despite the emergence of new unicorns.
Comparatively, Kenya’s ecosystem experienced a steeper 15% contraction, falling to a $5.1 billion valuation. Only three of the world’s top 20 ecosystems saw positive growth in 2025 — Beijing, Los Angeles, and Tokyo — while the rest, including London, Paris, and New York, experienced stagnation or decline.
Global Shifts: AI, Asia, and Ecosystem Rankings
The Startup Genome report also notes significant shifts in global startup dynamics. London dropped to #3 in the global rankings after holding the #2 position (tied with New York) since 2020. Boston re-entered the top five, and Paris rose to #12 on the back of new unicorns and early-stage deal growth.
Asia saw major gains. Hong Kong leapt from the Emerging Ecosystems list in 2024 to #27 globally. Meanwhile, five Chinese cities improved their rankings — Beijing (#5), Shanghai (#10), Shenzhen (#17), Hangzhou (#23), and Guangzhou (#35) — highlighting Asia’s growing centrality in tech innovation.
The report also underscores the concentration of artificial intelligence (AI) funding, with 90% of global AI investment going to startups in the U.S. and China. AI and Big Data now receive 40% of all VC funding globally, up from 26% in 2021.
A Warning Signal
The widening pay gap for developers in Africa — and in Nigeria specifically — raises long-term concerns about talent retention, brain drain, and economic inclusivity. While Nigerian startups are increasingly drawing global capital and generating high valuations, these benefits are not translating into better wages for the country’s tech workers.
With AI and digital infrastructure likely to underpin nearly every startup within five years, the growing disparity in developer compensation could erode the continent’s competitive edge if left unaddressed.
As the Startup Genome report makes clear, the African tech boom has proven its value to investors. The next test may be ensuring it delivers equally for the engineers building it.