Grace Ashiru
Lagos, Nigeria, despite being home to five tech unicorns and ranking as Africa’s leading startup ecosystem, remains one of the lowest-paying hubs for software developers globally, even within Africa. A recent report from Startup Genome has shed light on the stark wage disparities that tech workers in emerging markets face.
According to the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Report by Startup Genome, the average annual salary for a software developer in Lagos has fallen to just $7,500—less than one-seventh of the global average of $52,000. This positions Nigeria behind every major African tech ecosystem surveyed, except for Addis Ababa and Accra. In comparison, software developers in Nairobi earn an average of $14,700 per year, while those in Johannesburg—Africa’s highest-paying tech city—earn $42,000.
For a nation that has given rise to unicorns like Flutterwave, Andela, Interswitch, OPay, and eTranzact, this figure is striking. It mirrors salary levels in India’s Kerala state, where developers make about $6,000 annually, despite India’s significantly greater integration in the global tech economy.
Lagos stands at the forefront of startup funding and investor activity in Sub-Saharan Africa, consistently performing well and showcasing impressive talent. However, the city’s software developers face a stark contrast in earnings compared to their counterparts in global tech hubs. In Silicon Valley, the average annual salary for a software developer is $156,000. Other global cities also offer significantly higher pay, with New York City at $160,000, London at $78,000, Singapore at $66,000, Paris at $61,000, and Sharjah, UAE at $36,000. In comparison, developers in Lagos earn just $7,500 annually, amounting to only 4.8% of what their Silicon Valley peers make.
This stark discrepancy highlights a paradox at the core of Nigeria’s tech growth: while venture capital investments pour into Nigerian startups and billion-dollar valuations capture headlines, the average worker, responsible for building the technology, remains economically marginalized.
Further insights from Startup Genome’s data shed light on the broader African tech wage gap. In 2024, the average annual salaries across Africa’s leading startup ecosystems were already significantly lower than those in global markets: $14,000 in Nairobi, $11,000 in Lagos, $10,300 in Tunis, $5,000 in Accra, and $4,000 in Addis Ababa. By 2025, most salary levels remained either stagnant or declined, with Lagos experiencing one of the sharpest drops.
Nevertheless, these ecosystems continue to attract substantial global investment. Nigeria’s startup sector, for instance, has produced several unicorns in under a decade and ranks within the 61–70 range globally among emerging startup ecosystems. Despite low salaries, Nairobi and Johannesburg remain competitive in terms of talent and knowledge output.
Lagos stands out as a leader in startup funding and investor activity across sub-Saharan Africa, consistently ranking high in performance and talent experience. Despite this, software developers in the city earn a fraction of what their counterparts make in global tech hubs.
In Silicon Valley, a software developer’s annual salary averages $156,000. Salaries in other major cities are similarly high: $160,000 in New York City, $78,000 in London, $66,000 in Singapore, $61,000 in Paris, and $36,000 in Sharjah, UAE. By contrast, developers in Lagos earn just $7,500 annually, barely more than 4.8% of the salary of their peers in Silicon Valley.
The findings highlight a paradox at the core of Nigeria’s growing tech sector: while venture capital continues to flow into Nigerian startups, and billion-dollar valuations regularly make headlines, the average developer behind the technology remains economically marginalized.
Data from Startup Genome sheds light on the broader African tech wage gap. In 2024, the average annual salaries across Africa’s leading ecosystems were already much lower compared to their global counterparts: $14,000 in Nairobi, $11,000 in Lagos, $10,300 in Tunis, $5,000 in Accra, and $4,000 in Addis Ababa. By 2025, most of these figures remained stagnant or showed declines, with Lagos experiencing one of the sharpest drops.
This wage stagnation comes at a time when many global startup ecosystems are also grappling with a downturn in valuations. In 2025, the global ecosystem value saw an aggregate decline of 31%, though sub-Saharan Africa fared relatively better, with a 17% drop. Nigeria’s ecosystem has contracted by 5% since 2020, despite the rise of new unicorns. On the other hand, Kenya’s ecosystem saw a steeper 15% decline, dropping to a valuation of $5.1 billion. 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 declines.
The expanding pay gap for developers in Africa — and particularly in Nigeria — raises significant long-term concerns regarding talent retention, brain drain, and economic inclusivity. While Nigerian startups are attracting increasing amounts of global capital and reaching high valuations, these gains are not translating into improved wages for the country’s tech workforce.
With AI and digital infrastructure poised to play a central role in nearly every startup within the next five years, the growing disparity in developer compensation could undermine the continent’s competitive advantage if not addressed.
As highlighted in the Startup Genome report, the African tech boom has already proven its worth to investors. The real challenge moving forward may lie in ensuring that this success is equally shared by the engineers who are building it.
