Anambra
Heart of Igbo civilization where the igba-boi apprenticeship system rebuilt commerce post-Biafra, creating West Africa's largest market and Nigeria's first indigenous carmaker.
Anambra State exists because Igbo commercial civilization needed governance to match its economic scale. Home to Onitsha Main Market, West Africa's largest, the state processes billions of naira in daily transactions through networks that evolved from pre-colonial trading patterns. Historically, this is the heart of Igbo civilization - the Nri Kingdom served as the spiritual headquarters for centuries, while Awka developed as the craft industrial center producing metalwork and carvings. After the Biafran War's devastation, the Igbo rebuilt through the igba-boi apprenticeship system: established traders take young men from their villages, house and train them for years, then set them up with capital to start their own businesses. This cultural transmission mechanism regenerated commercial dominance within a generation. Nnewi, sometimes called the "Taiwan of Nigeria," hosts Innoson - the first indigenous Nigerian automobile manufacturer. The Onitsha-Nnewi-Awka industrial axis was formally recognized in 2012, acknowledging what evolved organically: manufacturing capacity clustered along trading routes. Anambra now has Nigeria's lowest poverty rate, a direct result of entrepreneurial networks that distribute opportunity. By 2026, the industrial axis will expand as Nigeria pushes import substitution and Anambra's manufacturing ecosystem captures demand.