Lagos vs Nairobi

Which city is more developed, Nairobi or Lagos?
Fred Opere, in Nairobi, Kenya

I live in Nairobi but I travel 3 - 4 times a year so I do believe that I have some credibility to answer this question.

Airport

Murtala Muhammed International Airport (Lagos) vs. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (Nairobi): there’s no comparison. JKIA is larger, cleaner and more organized than MMIA. The visa process in JKIA is also easier

Weather

Nairobi’s climate is mild and dry due to high altitude even though it straddles the equator (average is 23° / 14°). Temperatures in Lagos is hot and oppressively humid (average 32° / 24°)

Power

Most Nairobians do not own a generator because it is unnecessary. There are power blackouts but one of more than 4 hours is uncommon and maybe happens 1 - 2 month. Additionally, power is available in the lower income areas. Everyone in Lagos has a generator because power is off more than 50% of the time

Fuel

Nigeria is one of the leading exporter of crude oil but has to import diesel/petrol since their refineries are barely working. For various reasons, there are frequent stockouts of diesel and petrol although to be fair it has improved a lot in the last 2 years. Nairobi has not had a major petrol/diesel stockout in 5 years

Rent

In Nairobi, you pay first month, last month and one month deposit to move into a rental unit. In Lagos, you have to pay 2 years upfront

Environment

Lagos is a concrete jungle without a shred of greenery. Nairobi is the Green City in Sun with a lot of greenery and even a forest (Karura Forest) within the city limits

Traffic

Both Nairobi and Lagos suck equally

Hotels

Because Kenya has no oil, one of the major industries is tourism so there’s been a lot of investment in hotels and all levels. Most international chains have hotels in Nairobi. A few international chains have now a presence in Lagos (for a long time it was pretty much Eko Hotel) so this has improved.

Road infrastructure

Lagos does have better road infrastructure than Nairobi, although Nairobi is catching up with the building of the bypasses

Food

If you are a fan of spicy food and seafood then Lagos is the place to be. Nairobi food can be somewhat bland but this is a very subjective topic. I think there are more restaurants per capita in Nairobi since Kenyans eat out more than Nigerians.

Nightclubs

Lagos has many more higher end nightclubs than Nairobi and Nigerians dress up when they go out. Kenyans are very casual and frankly dress badly. It is common to find most people in a Nairoib club in jeans and sneakers whereas no self respecting Nigerian would roll like that to a club. One major cultural difference is that in Nairobi, women go to nightclubs by themselves or with their buddies and will entertain themselves and buy themselves drinks. This is for both single AND married women. In Lagos, it much less common for women (especially married) to go out by themselves unless accompanied by boyfriend/husband/brother. Also, a Nigerian woman will not pay for her own drink.