GITEX Nigeria opens in Abuja, attracts investors, tech leaders
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GITEX Nigeria opens in Abuja, attracts investors, tech leaders
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
GITEX NIGERIA 2026 officially opened in Abuja on Monday, with government officials, technology executives, investors and other stakeholders converging on the nation’s capital for discussions on artificial intelligence, digital transformation and Africa’s technology future.
The second edition of the technology and startup event opened with the Abuja Government Leadership and AI Summit, which focused on the continent’s transition from digital connectivity to sovereign technology and indigenous innovation.
Held under the patronage of President Bola Tinubu, GITEX NIGERIA is taking place in Abuja and Lagos from August 31 to September 3, 2026.
The event is supported by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA while the Lagos State Government is an official endorser.
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The event is organised by KAOUN International, the global organiser of GITEX events.
Themed “Beyond Connectivity – The Bridge to Sovereign AI and Innovation,” the Abuja summit brought together more than 500 public and private sector leaders and investors from Nigeria, Africa and other parts of the world.
The opening-day programme examined the infrastructure, policies, financing models and partnerships required to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation.
Speaking at the inauguration, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said Nigeria’s technology investment opportunities were expanding beyond consumer fintech to areas including computing infrastructure and digital public services.
Represented by his Commissioner on Innovation, Sanwo-Olu identified the development of computing infrastructure as a major opportunity, noting that Lagos had extensive subsea cable capacity but required more computing infrastructure to process Africa’s growing artificial intelligence workloads locally.
He said this would help address the cost, latency and data sovereignty challenges associated with African AI workloads currently being processed outside the continent.
The governor also pointed to the government market as another major opportunity for technology companies.
He said Lagos’ digitalisation of procurement, revenue collection, permitting, healthcare records, transportation and land administration was creating a growing market for enterprise software.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, said Nigeria was seeking to move from being a consumer of foreign technology to becoming a producer of technology, talent and infrastructure.
Akume said the development was crucial to the Federal Government’s ambition of building a $1tn economy.
“GITEX NIGERIA provides the strategic platform where government vision aligns with private sector execution,” he said.
The summit also featured discussions on digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, data sovereignty, connectivity and investment.
Sessions examined the role of cables, satellites, towers, edge infrastructure and blended finance in closing Africa’s connectivity gap, while another session considered the barriers preventing greater private investment in digital infrastructure.
Participants also discussed Africa’s expanding e-government market, including digital identity, payments and data-exchange systems.
The event will move to Lagos from September 2 to 3, where the Tech Expo will run alongside the Future Economy Conference and FDX by GITEX.
More than 200 investors from 30 countries, collectively managing about $200bn in assets, are expected to participate in the Lagos programme.
Among the international investment firms joining the programme are France’s Askya Investment Partners, Belgium’s Incofin Investment, Kenya- and Netherlands-based Triple Jump, the UK’s Lightrock, UAE-based Global Ventures and US-based Innovest Afrika.
The organisers said the inaugural 2025 edition had already produced investment opportunities for participating startups.
Vant, an artificial intelligence-powered business banking and management platform, subsequently joined the FirstFounders portfolio following its participation in the inaugural GITEX NIGERIA programme.
The investment, valued at $200,000, combined funding with operational support, according to the organisers.
The Lagos programme is expected to provide further opportunities for Nigerian and African startups to engage investors, establish international partnerships and access global markets.
