The West African metropolis has surpassed Cairo in size, according to the New York Times.

In a celebration of Lagos and African urbanization, the Financial Times ran a piece by Xan Rice highlighting Nigeria's commercial capital's size, its economic importance, and its government's energy in addressing concrete urban problems.

The UN estimated the city's population at 11.2 million in 2011. The New York Times estimates that it is now at least twenty-one million, surpassing Cairo as Africa's largest city. It is clear that whatever the size, and however the city is defined, Lagos is the center of one of the largest urban areas in the world. With a population of perhaps 1.4 million as recently as 1970, its growth has been stupendous. Rice estimates that Lagos generates about a quarter of Nigeria's total gross domestic product. The center of Nigeria's modern economy, Lagos has many millionaires, but Rice estimates that two thirds of the population are slum dwellers.