Lagos, African megacity with its challenges and sustainable solutions

A recent report from the Population Reference Bureau predicts that by 2050 Nigeria will be one of the 10 most populous nations globally. The country's population is set to rocket to 397 million. With a current fertility rate of 5.5 children born per woman, the population of Nigeria is predicted to surpass that of the whole of Central Africa by 2050.

Photo from https://ng.boell.org

This population boom will impact the whole country, and particularly the already megacity of Lagos; with its 21 million people, Lagos is the third largest mega city in the world after Tokyo in Japan and Bombay in India. And Lagos is about to double in size by 2050!

Until 1975 Lagos was the capital of Lagos state, and until December 1991 it was the federal capital of Nigeria. Abuja has replaced Lagos as the federal state capital. However, Lagos remains the unofficial seat of many government agencies. 
The city’s population is centered on Lagos Island, in Lagos Lagoon, on the Bight of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea.


Lagos means "lakes”, is a name given by the Portuguese settlers. Late 15th century Lagos Island had been settled by Yoruba fishermen and hunters, who called it Oko. The Portuguese first landed on Lagos Island in 1472; they established and developed a flourishing slave trade. The slave trade continued to grow until Lagos came under British control in 1861.
Lagos is the vibrant economic heart of Nigeria. It headquarters most of the commercial banks, financial institutions and corporates. It is also a major Information Communications and Telecommunications (ICT) hub; generating a significant portion of national GDP. The Port of Lagos is Nigeria's leading port and one of the largest and busiest in Africa.
Lagos has a tropical wet and dry climate that borders on a tropical monsoon climate.

I have once visited Lagos few years ago when I was on a short business trip. I was frustrated that the corporate policy at that time was not allowing me to go out for a stroll in town on my own, to get a genuine feeling of the city and meet with the city dwellers. This is usually what I like to do when I arrive at first in a new destination. I still keep the hope to come back one day on a private visit.

The expected population growth will put significant strain on a city already struggling to address its decrepit infrastructure and limited services. The multi-domains problems that the city encounters are huge.  A small percentage of Lagos’s citizens have access to running water. Less than 50 percent of the city has sewage infrastructure. There is a need to solve problems such as frequent power cuts, gridlocked traffic and a shortage of housing and office space. There is a need to develop transportation infrastructure, sanitary waste disposal sites, electrical grids and different urban infrastructure, while at the same time considering the importance of conservation of heritage buildings and century-old colonial architecture.

The problems in the city are similar to all the other mega-cities; traffic jams make transportation inefficient, waste management is malfunctioning leaving tons of waste on the streets, water resources are overused or polluted and inadequate housing, as well as slums, are becoming reality for an increasing number of inhabitants. Crime is unfortunately endemic in Lagos. Property crimes, armed burglaries and car theft, are particularly high, fueled as much by large-scale unemployment as by wide disparities in income. Crime is obviously altering the image of this vibrant, optimistic megacity of Lagos’s.

Traffic congestion is common in Lagos and because of high crime rate, robberies may occur during the peak period. The quality of air is bad due to traffic and industries like in any other mega-city.

Flooding is a big problem in Lagos and the water rises often to the streets and house levels, particularly during the monsoon season.

The demand of water in Lagos is much bigger than the supply.  Sources of pollution of the Lagos estuary include breweries, food processing industries, chemical industries, solid wastes from houses, sawmills and domestic sewage.

Photo: Flooded Street in Ikoyi, Reinvent Media

How to bridge the enormous physical and socio-economic gaps of the city? How to address most critical challenges like energy, water and transportation? How to respond to the huge employment demand from its young population?

Lagos would have to make the people a part of its economic success story and develop an inclusive strategy for growth, which would reduce social unrest because poverty and social exclusion is a major challenge today. Poverty rates range from 16% in Lagos.

Lagos needs to take advantage of one of its largest natural resource - water - to create sustainable living in its lagoon heart.
Architectural innovations such as the Makoko Floating School could reduce population density and create "a truly urbanized African water city.

Photo: from NLEworks.com/case/Makoko_flooding_School

Education is extremely important and is a key to Lagos’s success. Investing in educational public-private partnerships could finance "centers of excellence" providing technical and vocational skills whilst "easing the pressure on higher education."

In short, a gigantic work is expected! It’s a real test bed for smart city projects. It is a fantastic opportunity for city planners, urbanism experts, environmentalists, water specialists, energy experts and ICT professionals to take part in this endeavor and develop urban sustainable solutions in order to make Lagos a smart megacity.

ICT can play a major role in contributing with innovative, sustainable solutions to help solve all the current problems and the ones that are expected to pop-up, due to this dramatic change of the city.
Big data, cloud-based services, and IOT (Internet Of Things) services that intelligently provide real-time inputs will adequately provide smart ICT services. New business models between utility and technology providers can be developed to offer these integrated services. Lagos could particularly become a promising market for ICT service providers. These providers will create and develop the Lagos services ecosystem; mCommerce, mHealth enables greater access to healthcare, mEducation will benefit communities. Smart Grid solutions for smart power management, real-time Fleet & Transportation information system will prevent future congestion in the city and the port areas, and so many other services and opportunities.

I really believe that ICT can play a central role in helping Lagos city to avoid becoming a sprawling, polluted and highly congested megacity, but instead helping the city to grow into a greener, smarter and more livable metropolis.