Abiola Laseinde: Transforming Africa’s Tech Leadership

Moved by the understated labour of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) during the pandemic, Abiola Laseinde, a legal and business executive of over two decades, set out to give them a stage. Five years later, her vision has blossomed into a thriving tech ecosystem that draws participants from across Africa and places Nigeria firmly at the centre of the conversation, Vanessa Obioha writes

Five years ago, at the height of the pandemic, Abiola Laseinde, CEO of Edniesal Consulting, found herself deeply moved by the Information Technology (IT) professionals who worked tirelessly to keep the world connected. While the coronavirus threatened human interaction, these tech workers silently built and secured the digital bridges that held society together.

Overwhelmed by their efforts, Laseinde began sharing her idea of honouring them. It sounded odd to many who knew her—after all, she had no background in tech and had never worked in the industry. Even more unusual was her insistence on celebrating individual Chief Information Officers (CIOs), a group hardly recognised in the public sphere. They are the ones who respond when a cyberattack hits, who race to restore connectivity when systems collapse, yet rarely does anyone acknowledge their role, particularly during the pandemic when many businesses were doomed to collapse if not for the technological innovation.

Laseinde was clear from the start: the awards would honour individuals, not corporations. “These are human beings behind the companies,” she emphasised. Human beings she considers tech heroes; those who made extraordinary sacrifices during the pandemic to ensure the world was not cut off.

Despite scepticism, she pushed on, talking to anyone who cared to listen. A friend of her husband eventually opened crucial doors, and soon, firms such as EY and PwC bought into the concept and helped refine it—from branding to the selection process. The result was the birth of the CIO & C-Suite Conference and Awards.

Today, the event has evolved far beyond a recognition platform for CIOs and C-Suite managers. It has become a continental hub for the IT ecosystem, attracting nominations from outside Nigeria. Countries such as Ghana, Morocco, Kenya, and others now submit entries each year, and the numbers keep increasing.

“We had no intention of going outside Nigeria,” Laseinde explained. “We were just very focused on Nigeria. And then we started seeing nominations coming in from other countries. And it wasn’t one country, it wasn’t two countries. Nominations are coming in from Ghana, from Kenya, from South Africa, from Morocco. We’re like, what’s going on?”

In the first year, eligibility required nominees to be residents of Nigeria. But as foreign entries poured in, Laseinde heeded the advice of a “wise man” and opened the doors. Today, about 15 countries participate. More importantly, the awards are now recognised as a hub for Africa’s IT ecosystem, with dozens of participants travelling to Nigeria annually. This accolade brings smiles to Laseinde who is now convinced that her decision to start the awards was not born from a fleeting feeling.

“We didn’t envisage that other Africans would be coming into Nigeria,” she recalled. “Many come for the first time. In terms of exposure to a big country like Nigeria, there is a forex inflow from their travel and accommodation, and when they arrive, they are wowed by the experience.

“Like last year, we took them to the Microsoft Centre,  the FCMB Security Operations Centre, and then they had this big dinner somewhere. A lot of them were really amazed by our hospitality. We are incredibly proud that in our own little corner, we are shaping the narrative of Nigeria. Nigeria is now seen as a centre of attraction when it comes to the IT ecosystem awards.”

What started as just an awards platform has now become both a conference and an awards event. This evolution, she noted, was intentional.

“By the second year, when the ecosystem started pulling and asking for more, because the award is multi-sectoral — it is insurance, media, academic, financial services, all the financial services, name it, every sector of the economy. So when we started seeing that elevation, and we were getting partners and supporters who were interested, we decided that it was good to give them value for their investment.

“We felt we should enlarge the capacity, the engagement of all the stakeholders.  We added a valuable conference that will look at a trend that even the sponsors and the partners themselves can sit in and participate in. Like this year’s theme was Digital Tax Shift. We had a Kenyan from  Digitech who spoke elaborately about how there has been technology infusion. It’s changing the narrative around tax, and making it more efficient.”

Beyond the awards, the CIO ecosystem has birthed other platforms. One is the CIO & C-Suite Club Africa, launched in 2020 as a strategic community driving digital transformation. Built on Advocacy, Empowerment, Research and Development, and Thought Leadership, the Club now boasts over 1,000 senior technology executives across 15 countries. Through annual summits and collaborative initiatives, it strengthens Africa’s digital community.

There is also the Ladies in Tech and Leadership Network (LITL), established in 2022 to advance women’s participation in Africa’s digital growth.

For Laseinde, Nigeria is well-positioned to be a leading voice in global tech leadership. “Nigeria is doing very well in terms of education, empowerment, awareness, and leveraging technology,” she said.

Yet she notes that infrastructure remains a significant weak spot. She wonders, for instance, why Nigeria still has no smart city.

“Everything we’re doing now is what individual companies and associations can achieve—creating enabling environments for growth. Our government hasn’t worked enough. So as a club, one of our focuses next year is ensuring that Nigeria becomes a smart Nigeria in spirit and in truth, infrastructurally. It’s a tall order, but we need to make noise and demonstrate what is possible. We have so much inside, but are we ready to birth the full potential of emerging technologies? We’re not yet prepared.”