"Lagos today looks very different from just five years ago, and it will look very different again in five year's time; ignore it at your peril," says RisCura's Andrew Slater as he discusses investment opportunities in Nigeria.

I had flown over the landscape many times. But this was the first time during the day, and like a child on their first flight I just stared out of the window hypnotised by the sight. I was on my way to Lagos, Nigeria, and I was flying over the Sahara. The way the wind had sculptured the rock, was like looking down on a Mandelbrot fractal. From time to time amongst the rock and sand (there was a lot of sand), there were signs of human habitation: sometimes just the reflection of something metallic, other times a clearly recognisable array of solar panels. 

When you say to people you are off to Lagos they usually ask, quizzically, business or pleasure? I think it will be a while before Lagos entices Simon Cowell from his beachfront property in Barbados. Furthermore, judging by the houses I saw on Banana Island, the Mayfair of Lagos, Simon will have to do a few more series of Britain's Got Talent to afford one of these properties. There certainly is wealth in Africa, and with a growing number of native Nigerians returning to Nigeria after ten or more years working in the UK or US, Nigeria certainly now has the X-factor. I believe with one-sixth of Africa's population, it will be a winner for local pension funds (there is a rapidly growing DC constituency) and for non-Nigerian investors who embrace the opportunity.

(By the way, this article is dedicated to another annoying Simon, a two-year-old boy who wouldn't settle or be quiet and ruined the night flight back for everyone.)

Nigeria is putting its chequered past behind it in many ways. Its citizens are engaged with politics in a way not seen for many years, not least because of the way mobile phones and the internet have empowered them. The privatisation of the electricity companies, personally championed by President Goodluck Jonathan, will be completed in September this year and is expected to be a game-changer in catalysing business growth. This should reduce household bills and hence increase discretionary income. Walk into a shopping mall and you will see Western brands, even a local shop selling TM Lewin shirts and suits. There is a certain irony (but you have to start somewhere) that the billboards around Lagos advertise Jumia and Konga, the local versions of Amazon. As the founder of Konga, Sim Shagaya, said recently in a Financial Times interview: it's not so much that there's this appetite for online shopping, as that there's an appetite for shopping.

I had been told that travel around Lagos was notoriously bad and accordingly built-in plenty of time between my meetings with pension funds, asset managers and private equity firms. The end result is that I arrived at every meeting at least 30 minutes early! Every meeting started on time; it really was no different from London. This will only get better as there is a light rail system being built for Lagos. However, this is not the biggest construction underway. Punch in 'Eko Atlantic, Lagos' into Google Maps and it will give you a red marker in the ocean. Well, I have been there and can confirm I didn't need a boat. A land reclaim project (new land from the Atlantic Ocean and not Lagos lagoon) is underway, which makes Dubai's efforts look like the work of a child's. Lagos today looks very different from just five years ago, and it will look very different again in five years' time; ignore it at your peril.

Finally, there is the trek to, and from, the airport. Two hours to cover just 16 miles, can you believe it? First a tube, then replacement bus, then tube, a third tube which was delayed first with a points failure then with a signal failure. No wait, that was London, on a Saturday morning. The Lagos airport trek was a longer distance and took the same amount of time in evening rush hour. It is funny how we erroneously judge things by different standards. But I guess one person's misconception and bias is another person's opportunity.

Written by Andrew Slater, managing director, RisCura

aslater@uk.riscura.com