Doing Business in Nigeria: Cities & Business Opportunities

Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial capital and largest city. Population figures vary widely by source and boundary: Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics puts Lagos State’s 2023 population at roughly 13.7 million, while commonly cited “metro area” estimates range from around 16 million to well over 20 million, there is no single agreed figure, so any specific number should be treated as approximate. Lagos anchors the Port of Lagos complex (Apapa and Tin Can Island) plus the newer Lekki Deep Sea Port, Nigeria’s first fully automated port, which alone now accounts for close to half of regional cargo volume and can berth vessels far larger than the older terminals. National container throughput across all Nigerian seaports reached roughly 1.7 million TEUs in 2024.

Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Nigeria’s busiest, handled roughly 4.3 million international passengers in 2024 (up 6.5% year-on-year) plus over 12 million domestic passengers, with a major government-funded rehabilitation of its terminals underway. Lagos is also home to the Dangote Refinery in the Lekki Free Zone, a 650,000-barrel-per-day facility, among the largest single-train refineries in the world, which began operating in 2024 and is now raising capital for an expansion toward 1.4 million barrels per day.

Sources: Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics · Nigerian Ports Authority · Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria · Wikipedia/Dangote Refinery · Nairametrics

Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory, has been Nigeria’s political and administrative capital since the 1980s. The FCT’s last full census (2006) recorded roughly 1.4 million people, with official 2022 estimates putting the territory at roughly 3.1 million, growth driven by its role as the seat of federal government, diplomacy, and a large professional-services sector.

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Nigeria’s second-busiest, handled 5.48 million passengers in 2024, and remains the busiest domestic route pairing in the country when connected with Lagos, largely government, corporate, and business travel. A new international terminal, inaugurated in 2023, raised the airport’s capacity to 15 million passengers a year. We don’t have a named tourism or hospitality asset to point to in Abuja yet; as the seat of national government, the city’s business activity centers on public administration, diplomacy, and the services that support them.

Sources: Wikipedia/Federal Capital Territory · Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria · Nairametrics · The Sun (Nigeria)

Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State, is the center of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. The state’s last full census (2006) recorded roughly 5.2 million people; more recent unofficial estimates vary considerably and are not treated as settled here. Just outside the city, the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone is one of the largest oil and gas free zones in the world, accounting for over 65% of Nigeria’s export cargo by volume, hosting roughly $20 billion in cumulative investment and more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, and, as of a 2026 report, it had become Nigeria’s second-highest revenue-generating port.

Port Harcourt International Airport handled 1.19 million passengers in 2024 (1.08 million domestic, 112,000 international), was named Best Airport in South-South Nigeria at the 2024 Aviation Awards, and plays a specific role connecting oil and gas workers and cargo to the wider Niger Delta. We don’t have a named tourism or hospitality asset to point to in Port Harcourt yet; the city’s commercial identity is built almost entirely around energy-sector logistics and services.

Sources: Nigerian Informer (Rivers State population) · Oil & Gas Free Zones Authority · Vanguard News · Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria · Nairametrics

Kano is the historic commercial hub of northern Nigeria and, per NBS 2023 projections, the country’s single most populous state at roughly 15.7 million people, ahead of Lagos State on that same official measure, though methodologies and higher independent estimates vary here too. Kano’s economy runs on agriculture (groundnuts, cotton, sesame, and vegetables), leather goods manufacturing, and centuries-old trading traditions: Kurmi Market, established in the 15th century, and Kantin Kwari, described as West Africa’s largest textile market, both still anchor cross-border trade with Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

Kano State’s government has actively pursued new investment, attracting more than $150 million since introducing a 2025–2029 investment strategy, with a further $800 million in proposals under consideration, and growing internally generated revenue by over 150% between 2023 and 2025. Kano hosts one of Nigeria’s most established annual trade events, the Kano International Trade Fair (over 1,000 exhibitors in its 2025 edition), and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, whose international terminal was rebuilt in 2023 with capacity for 7 million passengers a year, handled roughly 585,000 passengers in 2024. The city’s historic core includes the Emir’s Palace, the 15th-century Gidan Makama Museum, and Dala Hill, the traditional site of the city’s founding.

Sources: Daily Times Nigeria (NBS Demographic Bulletin) · Businessday NG · Wikipedia/Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport · Guardian (Nigeria) · Vanguard News