Nigeria Hosts First-Ever GITEX, Signals Bold Leap in Digital Economy Drive
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
Abuja and Lagos witnessed history this week as Nigeria hosted its first-ever edition of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX), marking a watershed moment in the nation’s digital transformation journey.
For more than a decade, Nigeria—through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)—had been an active participant at the global tech showcase in Dubai, Marrakech, and Berlin. But this year, the country stepped onto the global stage as a host, drawing investors, policymakers, startups, and industry leaders from over 40 countries to Abuja and Lagos.
The message was clear: Nigeria is no longer content to be a participant—it is ready to lead.
Speaking at the Lagos session of the exhibition, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu reeled out staggering figures that highlight Lagos’ central role in Nigeria’s digital ascent.
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Between 2019 and 2024, the state attracted over $6 billion in direct foreign investment into its tech startup sector—a feat he said cements Nigeria’s status as Africa’s leading innovation hub.
“Lagos is no longer aspirational; it is a living reality,” Sanwo-Olu declared. “With hyperscale data centres, submarine cables, and a city-wide fibre network, we are experiencing a full-scale digital revolution.”
According to him, Lagos now accounts for more than 70% of Nigeria’s tech inflows, while over 70% of Africa’s unicorns trace their origins to the city.
He credited much of this to long-term planning that began under then-Governor, now President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The governor spotlighted homegrown ingenuity, citing the Cowry Card—a unified transport payment solution built by young Nigerians—which powers Lagos’ bus, taxi, water, and electric rail systems. “It is proof that our youth can design solutions that rival any in the world,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu added that Lagos is building a governance model anchored on data and digital platforms, stressing: “We are creating a government where policy decisions respond to real-time insights, and where no Lagosian is left behind.”
At the Abuja opening, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, outlined the Federal Government’s bold digital economy blueprint.
The ICT sector, he said, has grown from less than 5% of GDP a decade ago to over 16% today, with projections to hit 21% by 2027.
“Nigeria is no longer just a market,” he said. “We are a global innovation and creative hub powered by infrastructure, talent, and creativity.”
Dr. Tijani announced major initiatives including: Project BRIDGE: a 90,000km fibre backbone to connect every state, LGA, and ward; 3MTT Programme: one of the world’s largest coordinated digital skills initiatives, designed to prepare Nigerian youth for global tech jobs; National AI Collective: a government-backed platform supporting startups building real-world AI solutions and New Digital Economy & E-Governance Bills: landmark legislation to entrench trust, accountability, and cybersecurity.
“The opportunity and responsibility now rest with all of us—government, startups, corporates, and investors,” he charged. “Nigeria must co-create the future economy with Africa and the world.”
For NITDA, the agency that first introduced Nigeria to GITEX, the event’s Nigerian edition represents the culmination of years of policy groundwork.
Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, described the hosting as “a bold declaration that Nigeria is ready to lead the future economy.”
He recalled the 2012 cashless policy that spurred fintech innovations, leading to Nigeria becoming home to five of Africa’s unicorns.
“Of the nine unicorns on the continent, five originated here,” he said. “We don’t build with infrastructure—we build with resilience. And that resilience has turned Lagos into Africa’s factory of unicorns.”
The global tech community also recognised Nigeria’s coming of age. Ms. Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President of Dubai World Trade Centre and CEO of KAOUN, hailed Nigeria as a “beacon of necessity-driven ingenuity” that scales not through capital, but through resilience.
“Nigeria doesn’t follow Silicon Valley’s playbook,” she said. “Here, startups innovate because they must—and that is why they endure.”
With 650 startups, 200 investors, and delegates from 40 countries in attendance, LohMirmand said Lagos has become the ultimate testbed for innovation: “If your product survives Lagos, it can thrive anywhere in the world.”
The exhibition also underscored the synergy between Nigeria’s creative industries and its tech ecosystem. From Nollywood’s global dominance to Afrobeats filling stadiums worldwide, speakers emphasised that Nigeria’s digital future is inseparable from its cultural power.
“This is where code meets culture,” said Dr. Tijani. “Our creative economy is projected to generate over $15 billion, and together with tech, it tells a bigger story of Nigeria’s economic transformation.”
As the weeklong event unfolds, the mood is one of optimism and resolve. For Nigeria, hosting GITEX is not merely a milestone—it is a movement signalling the country’s ambition to lead Africa’s digital revolution.
Backed by deliberate policy, heavy infrastructure investment, and an unrelenting spirit of innovation, the message is loud and clear: the future is not coming—it is already here, and it is proudly Nigerian.
