Kano

Kano is a historic city in northern Nigeria and the capital of Kano State. It lies on the Kano River and has long been a major commercial center in the Sahel, linked to trans-Saharan trade and the Hausa city-states. Over the centuries it developed from a collection of settlements into a large urban center known for its markets, crafts, and architectural heritage, including ancient city walls and gates that reflect its commercial heritage.

As the seat of the Kano Emirate, the city holds cultural and religious significance in the region. The traditional emirate operates alongside Nigeria’s modern state administration. Kano’s population is predominantly Hausa with Fulani and other communities. The economy is diversified, with large markets, textile and leather production, grain milling, and manufacturing, anchored by historic trade routes and institutions such as the Kurmi Market and modern commerce in the city.

The Kano model is a theory of product development and customer satisfaction introduced by Japanese academic Noriaki Kano in the 1980s. It classifies product features into five categories: Must-Be, One-Dimensional, Attractive, Indifferent, and Reverse. The model helps teams prioritize features by how they affect customer satisfaction, noting that adding more features can have diminishing returns and that some attributes are basic expectations.

Both the city in Nigeria and the Kano model share the same name, and the term Kano may also refer to a region, a traditional authority, or be used as a surname or given name in various contexts.