By Chinenye Anuforo
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Experts in technology and telecommunications sector recently converged in Lagos to chart a path for the nation’s digital future, with emphasis on collaborative transformation driven by robust public-private partnerships.
They collectively highlighted the challenges and abundant opportunities facing Nigeria’s digital acceleration and called for strategic investment, a fundamental shift in mindset, and above all, a concerted effort towards collaboration between government and the private sector to unlock Nigeria’s full digital potential.
The panel session, titled “Accelerating Nigeria’s Digital Transformation: Insights on Challenges and Emerging Opportunities,” was moderated by Mr. Odubunga Olabiyi, Managing Director of Dimensions Interrelative.
Mr. Evelyn Lewis, the Chief Executive Officer, SBTS Nigeria Ltd, articulated the critical role of strong public-private partnerships (PPPs) in fostering Nigeria’s digital growth. He stressed that a “strong public-private partnership is critical at this stage of our growth,” highlighting that effective collaboration is essential for tackling major challenges like access to capital. He pointed to existing committee efforts aimed at establishing these partnerships, particularly for raising funding to both maintain existing infrastructure and build new capacity. Lewis noted that derisking investment options within these partnerships is vital to attract necessary capital, even as private entities often bear initial risks by providing services upfront.
He underscored the increasing reliance on digital content such as e-learning and e-services necessitating local hosting to enhance access, performance, and relevance.
Lewis called for government legislation that supports local hosting and simplifies participation for private players. While acknowledging a favorable regulatory environment compared to many other regions, he cautioned against excessive regulation, stating, regulation should not become strangulation. He argued that true growth emerges from empowering entrepreneurs and solopreneurs who depend on digital infrastructure, fostering innovation rather than restricting it.
The discussion on partnerships extended to the critical issue of data center capacity, presented by Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani, CEO, Digital Realty . He revealed Africa’s deficit, operating at just 20% of global standards, with South Africa alone accounting for 80% of that figure. Nigeria’s contribution to the remaining 20% shared across the continent is a mere 0.1%. With an ideal capacity of approximately 600 megawatts, Nigeria currently operates at less than 40 megawatts.
This substantial gap, Nnamani explained, compromises service quality and pricing, hinders low-latency applications, and raises significant concerns about data sovereignty, as critical national data remains stored outside Nigeria. He is currently chairing a NITDA committee tasked with developing a National Data Sovereignty Cloud Framework to address this. Nnamani highlighted investment risk, access to funding, and a lack of risk appetite as key hindrances, issues that PPPs are uniquely positioned to mitigate by pooling resources and sharing risks.
While new data centers are emerging, mostly in Lagos, he expressed hope for significant expansion beyond the capital to build a distributed, resilient digital infrastructure nationwide.
Ms. Happiness Obioha CEO, Tizel Cybersecurity brought the critical aspect of cybersecurity into focus, particularly with the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence. She warned that if cybersecurity measures do not evolve in tandem with AI, the resulting vulnerabilities could undermine all digital progress.
Obioha emphasized the urgent need to strengthen safeguards around data, stressing that it forms the backbone of any nation. She advocated for continuous cyber awareness campaigns, robust policy implementation for both public and private sector data handlers, and, crucially, investment in practical, in-house cybersecurity solutions. These measures, she argued, are essential to actively protect critical infrastructure and enable secure innovation in the digital space, underscoring a shared responsibility between government and private entities.
Professor Obadare Peter Adewale, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Digital Encode weighed in on the need to build local capacity to combat sophisticated cyber threats. He provided a candid assessment of Nigeria’s digital transformation status, ranking it as a starter nation at 74th on the Global Digital Transformation Index.
Obadare dismissed superficial homegrown solutions, advocating instead for systems that meet global standards. He asserted that the internet operates on universal protocols, demanding that Nigerian solutions be world-class and export-ready. He posited that the fundamental solution lies in overhauling the education system, citing China’s heavy investment in education to foster innovation and export capabilities. “If we truly want to build homegrown cybersecurity solutions that the world will take seriously, we must start with our universities,” he affirmed, emphasizing the long-term investment required to secure Nigeria’s digital future from within.
Mr. Ayowande Adalemo, Founder, Wave5Wireless Limited, called for a mindset shift within the telecoms industry, moving beyond traditional competition to embrace comprehensive collaboration. He argued that the global digital economy has evolved to a human-to-people focus, where every individual is an enterprise. This necessitates rethinking telecom infrastructure design to support the digital lifestyle of every individual, rather than solely traditional businesses.
Mr. Adalemo asserted that collaboration is paramount, criticising the current practice of multiple providers duplicating infrastructure. He advocated for shared infrastructure and intelligent distribution of capacities. He also stressed the importance of content localization to ensure local access to services and empower local startups. “If we don’t start thinking differently beyond traditional competition and more toward collaboration we will keep coming to events like this, talking about the same challenges over and over again,” he warned, stressing that collaboration multiplies value rather than diminishing it.