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Kano is becoming one of Nigeria’s biggest startup cities
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
This year, Kano entered the list of top 1,000 startup cities in the world for the first time. In the past four years, the city, known as the commercial capital of northern Nigeria, has seen a spike in startup activities, owing to the success of pioneer tech entrepreneurs and a buzzing tech community.
KANO FOCUS reports that in 2016, a group of four young people collaborated to build one of the first tech incubation hubs in Kano, they had no idea that this singular goal to participate in the tech revolution happening in the country would become the foundation of the state’s tech ecosystem. In eight years, this hub, Startup Kano, has become one of the biggest in the northern region and the entry-point into tech for over 50,000 youth in Kano, helping early-stage entrepreneurs raise over $1 million for their tech-enabled businesses.
A tech ecosystem in Kano is vastly different from ones in other parts of the country, like Lagos or Enugu, and while the growth of the former might have inspired Kano, that didn’t make building any easier.
According to Aisha Tofa, co-founder of Startup Kano, there was no blueprint for them in the beginning as the environments were severely different. There was zero tech awareness in Kano communities, and despite its deep entrepreneurial culture, the concept of investing in technology rather than actual brick-and-mortar businesses was still largely absurd.
“People understood technology only to the extent of using social media platforms like Facebook,” she said. “Anything outside that and they didn’t trust it.”
It took years of radical tech evangelism to draw the interest of young people, and subsequently investors. Now, the state has become one of the top six tech ecosystems in the country, with the most number of startups in northern Nigeria.
According to Tofa, what is responsible for the recent push for the tech entrepreneurs in Kano is witnessing the potential of technology for their counterparts in the north.
“At first, people didn’t even try. They simply believed that their startups wouldn’t get enough funding or traction for the single reason that they were from the north and not Lagos,” she said. “But when they started to see other founders like them in the northern region who worked hard and got rewarded for it, then they woke up.”
In 2022, a mobility startup founded by Kano-born Khalil Halilu won $8,000 for the mobility and smart city category during a GITEX Pitch competition. That same year, another northern startup, Sudo Africa, raised $3.37 million in pre-seed funding. From 2021 to 2024, the number of tech startups in Kano has jumped from five to about sixty.
Funding has always been regarded as the principal obstacle to growth in the Nigerian tech space, more so in emerging ecosystems like Kano. In 2023, we wrote that only about 6% of tech founders from the entire northern region had access to venture capital funding.
Tofa has a differing opinion. She believes that for an ecosystem like Kano, there are still foundational challenges that still need to be gotten right, like education, mentorship, and creating the right market.
“There’s a huge gap between the training and impact we see in the ecosystem at the moment. A lot of us are still using the templates from other places to train Kano youth, and it’s not the right fit,” she said. “Funding is important, but the things we do before getting to where we need funding should also be focused on.”
According to another co-founder of Startup Kano, who’d like to not be mentioned, Kano is different and the ecosystem has to adapt to the cultural context of the city to be successful.
“When we pitch tech startups as something entirely separate from the regular businesses they’re used to, then it’s even more difficult to work with,” they said. “Startups are basically businesses, which is what we know here [in Kano] and how we ought to operate.”
The co-founder, who now bootstraps their own tech-enabled business, shared that funding isn’t as important to them now as finding the market for their product.
“Before thinking about raising money from investors, I’m already thinking about how to sell and make my profits directly from my customers, which is exactly how my own fathers did business,” they said.
A lot of things have changed in Kano in the past few years. Beyond an increased number of startups, there are also more incubation hubs, willing investors in the city, and increased interest.
“While building is still difficult, it is definitely not as difficult as it was four years ago because there are more resources to help you now,” the anonymous co-founder said. “Global organisations, the government, and even private individuals have seen what’s possible in Kano and want to be a part of it.”
Ahmed Idris, founder of Enovate Labs, a non-profit focused on driving innovation, warned that the buzz in the ecosystem shouldn’t be confused with a big change and there’s still work to be done.
“The ecosystem is largely still as small as it was years ago, but we’ve seen some unique cases of people and startups who’ve managed to do great stuff,” he said.
Source: TechCabal.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Kano State Government says it has executed 1,508 development projects worth more than N928 billion across the state’s 44 local government areas since Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf assumed office, with about 80 per cent of constituency projects awarded between 2023 and 2025 already completed.
KANO FOCUS reports that the Commissioner for Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation, Comrade Nura Iro Ma’aji Sumaila, disclosed this during an international press briefing on the administration’s infrastructure development programme.
According to Comrade Sumaila, the projects cover critical sectors including roads, urban renewal, education, healthcare, security and other social infrastructure.
He said 799 of the projects have been completed, while 709 are at various stages of execution. He added that the state is also implementing 619 constituency projects through members of the Kano State House of Assembly.
The commissioner noted that about 80 per cent of the constituency projects have been completed. However, he said some projects remain unfinished because of rising construction costs caused by inflation.
He said the government has submitted a request to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf for an upward review of contract sums to enable contractors complete the affected projects.
Breakdown of projects
Comrade Sumaila said the administration spent over N169 billion on urban renewal projects, including road rehabilitation, drainage construction and other metropolitan infrastructure.
He said another N118 billion was committed to constructing five-kilometre roads in 38 local government areas to improve connectivity across the state.
According to him, the government also awarded contracts worth over N6.8 billion for the construction of Kano State Neighbourhood Watch security divisions in 36 local government areas.
He added that rural infrastructure projects covering education, healthcare and other social interventions across the 44 local government areas account for contracts valued at more than N397 billion, while other ongoing projects have a combined value of about N255 billion.
Commitment to transparency
The commissioner said the Ministry of Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation would continue to ensure compliance with due process and technical standards in the execution of government projects.
He said the ministry’s mandate includes monitoring projects to ensure value for money and prudent utilisation of public resources.
According to him, the administration’s investments in infrastructure are intended to improve mobility, strengthen security, expand access to education and healthcare, improve water supply and stimulate economic growth across the state.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano State has emerged as the highest-ranked sub-national government in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for education spending, according to the latest Sub-National Education Spending Index developed by the University of Paris.
KANO FOCUS reports that the ranking places Kano State first among 209 first-level sub-national governments across 15 ECOWAS member countries, underscoring the state’s growing reputation for prioritising investment in education.
According to the published index, Kano topped the rankings with an overall S-WAESI score of 87.21, outperforming other leading regions, including Dakar and Saint-Louis in Senegal. Lagos State was the second Nigerian state on the list, ranking 16th overall.
The assessment evaluated states and regions using the S-WAESI (Sub-National Weighted Aggregate Education Spending Index) methodology, which measures government commitment to education through indicators such as actual education expenditure, spending per student, budget execution, education priority, transparency and evidence-based reporting.
The methodology assigns 35 points to actual education spending, 25 points to spending per student, 20 points to budget execution, 10 points to education priority and 10 points to transparency.
The report indicated that Kano excelled largely due to its strong actual education spending and budget execution, making it the best-performing sub-national government in the region.
The ranking covered states, regions, districts and municipalities across Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde.
Kano State Accountability Forum on Education (K-SAFE) said the recognition reflects Kano State Government’s sustained investment in expanding access to education, improving school infrastructure and strengthening educational planning and budget implementation.
KANO FOCUS reports that the achievement is expected to further boost the state’s profile as a leader in education reform within West Africa and provide additional momentum for ongoing efforts to improve learning outcomes across the state.
The latest ranking comes amid renewed attention on education financing across ECOWAS, with experts increasingly emphasising transparent budgeting, efficient resource utilisation and sustained public investment as critical drivers of quality education.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano State has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme after qualifying for a total of $3.5 million in performance-based incentives for implementing key governance, education and healthcare reforms.
KANO FOCUS reports that the World Bank, through the HOPE Governance Programme domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, approved $27 million in incentives for states that successfully met the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Results (DLRs).
The National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, announced the incentives on Tuesday in Abuja during a retreat attended by commissioners, permanent secretaries and directors of budget and planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A statement issued by the programme’s Communications Officer, Joe Mutah, said the incentives were based on the recommendations of the Interim Independent Verification Agent, which assessed states’ performance against agreed reform indicators.
Kano ranked among the highest-performing states, qualifying for incentives under three separate reform indicators.
The state will receive $1.5 million under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.1 for adopting comprehensive guidelines for the preparation and submission of consolidated work plans for the state basic education budget.
It also qualified for another $1.5 million under DLR 2.2, which recognises states that adopted comprehensive guidelines for consolidated work plans for state primary healthcare budgets.
In addition, Kano secured $500,000 under DLR 2.3 for adopting harmonised budget guidelines and a unified chart of accounts for local governments.
Altogether, the state is expected to receive $3.5 million, making it one of the top-performing states under the programme.
Only five states—Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe—qualified for both the education and healthcare planning incentives, earning $3 million each from the two indicators alone.
Kano further distinguished itself by qualifying under the local government budgeting reform indicator, increasing its total allocation to $3.5 million.
The state also featured among 15 states that met the requirements under DLR 4.1, which rewards states for publishing their 2025 Citizens Budget for basic education and primary healthcare by February 28, 2025. Each qualifying state under this indicator will receive $500,000.
Other states that qualified under DLR 4.1 are Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau and Yobe.
According to the programme, the performance-based incentives are designed to encourage states to strengthen governance systems, improve budget transparency and enhance planning in the education and primary healthcare sectors.
KANO FOCUS reports that the HOPE Governance Programme is a World Bank-supported initiative implemented through the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning to promote improved public financial management and better service delivery across Nigeria’s states.
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