Rapid urbanization is transforming Nigeria as it struggles to transition from an oil dependent to an urban-industrial model of development. Today about 85 million Nigerians are urbanized, approximately half, up from 30 percent in 1990. Driven by an average urban growth rate of 4.8 percent a year, the UN projects 67 percent of Nigerians will be urbanized by 2050. Economists argue urbanization constitutes a powerful “agglomeration effect” that boosts economic growth by lowering transaction costs, encouraging innovation, and concentrating consumers’ purchasing power. Metropolitan Lagos supports this argument because strategic planners introduced new revenue systems, improved infrastructures, recruited investors, and nurtured entrepreneurship. Yet unknown is whether Lagosian model can be replicated in Nigeria’s remaining urbanizing regions, where ownership of land is contested and fledgling agro-industrial linkages are burdened by weak infrastructures, finance, and governance. The Workshop offers a venue for Nigeria-watchers to debate strategies for transforming Nigeria’s emerging urban regions.

Speakers:

Keynote Address: H. E. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment: “Lagos as a Model for Urban Economic Development: Policy Lessons for Replication”