section_path: Economy/"Africa's Silicon Valley"
section_name: "Africa's Silicon Valley"
paragraph_text: "Africa's Silicon Valley"
  
  There are seven tech start-ups in Africa that are said to have " unicorn " status (worth over 1 billion euros). Five of them are based in Lagos: Flutterwave is in the virtual bank card business. Opay and Interswitch are platforms for online bookings. Andela trains software engineers and places them in the Nigerian labour market. Jumia is an online retail company that offers a wide range of products such as electronic devices and fashion.
  
  Lagos is home to more tech hubs than any other city in Africa. With more than 90 million internet users, Lagos is attracting investors who want to capitalise on this expanding technology hotspot. Startupgrind.com refers to Lagos as "Africa's Silicon Valley". Bloomberg highlights "Nigeria's Chaotic Rise as the Tech Heart of Africa" and means Lagos, specifically the Yaba district.
  
  Lagos is the only African city to have both a Google and a Microsoft office. MTN maintains the first and still predominant 4G network in Nigeria. Airtel is another 4G provider. 9Mobile and Dataflex are Internet providers. Paystack is used by Nigerians who regularly receive payments from abroad. ULesson maintains a platform on which secondary school learning content is presented. Hotels.ng allows hotel bookings to be made throughout Africa.