Economy of Lagos

Lagos is Nigeria’s leading port, particularly for imports of consumer goods, foodstuffs, motor vehicles, machinery, and industrial raw materials.

Its export trade in timber and agricultural products such as cacao and groundnuts has declined since the early 1970s.

More than half of Nigeria’s industrial capacity is located in Lagos’s mainland suburbs, particularly in the Ikeja industrial estate.

A wide range of manufactures are produced in the city, including machinery, motor vehicles, electronic equipment, chemicals, beer, processed food, and textiles.

Lagos is the western terminus for the Nigerian railway system and is linked by rail and road to Ibadan, Kano, and other major Nigerian cities.

Murtala Muhammad International Airport is located in the suburbs northwest of the city center.

Lagos’s rapid, mostly unregulated growth, coupled with the challenges of its fragmented geography, have resulted in chronically congested traffic conditions on the city’s roads.

Despite this, there is relatively little transportation by water between the islands and mainland sections of Lagos.