Stakeholders Call for Accelerated Infrastructure, Talent Development

Agnes Ekebuike

Nigeria’s digital economy stakeholders, industry captains, policymakers, and tech professionals recently gathered to celebrate the 50 Most Valuable Personalities (MVP) in the digital space while reflecting on Nigeria’s digital readiness for 2025. At the gathering, which doubled as a colloquium, with the theme: ‘Nigeria: State of Digital Economy for 2025’, the stakeholders called for accelerated infrastructure and talent development for Nigeria, while spotlighting both transformative achievements and persistent infrastructural gaps slowing the country’s progress.

In his welcome address, Chairman and CEO of Knowhow Media, Mr. Olusegun Oruame, a renowned tech analyst and international journalist, underscored the significance of the digital revolution in reshaping lives across the country. “We are here to recognise those who are quietly making strong statements on digital transformation. This is a moment to celebrate quiet impact,” Oruame said, while emphasising that change is occurring nationwide—from Lagos to remote parts of the North.

In his keynote presentation, former President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Ikechukwu Nnamani, who is a leading voice in Nigeria’s ICT sector, stressed that while Nigeria has made commendable strides since its 2019 digital economy roadmap, much remains to be done. “We are latecomers to the global digital economy, but we have the potential to accelerate faster than many countries,” Nnamani said.

He highlighted critical gaps in digital infrastructure, especially beyond Lagos.

According to him, “It’s cheaper to buy broadband capacity between Lagos and London than between Lagos and Abuja, despite the distance because Nigeria has so much broadband capacity at the shores of the country that needs to be transmitted to the hinterlands through the national backbone infrastructure. That’s the reality,” he lamented. He called for a more equitable deployment of metro fiber networks, long-distance links, and edge data centers across all states to unlock the full potential of Nigeria’s digital economy.

On the human capital front, Nnamani dismissed fears that technology displaces jobs. “Digitisation creates jobs, if people are willing to retrain,” he stressed, citing the example of a young Nigerian who secured remote employment with a Canadian tech firm after six months of coding training.