… calls for stronger collaboration between government and industry.
Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat yesterday urged governments and the private sector to bridge Africa’s technology scaling gap through sustained investment in digital infrastructure.
He said this could be achieved through predictable policies, local innovation and institutional reforms that translated technological breakthroughs into solutions capable of reaching millions of people.
Hamzat spoke at the Fifth Edition of TeXcellence, organised by CWG Plc, with the theme: “Accelerating Africans Digital Future Lacks Direction and a Sustained Force,” held in Lagos.
He says Africa’s challenge is no longer a shortage of innovation, but the inability to scale successful ideas into sustainable systems that deliver widespread economic and social benefits.
The deputy governor, who is contesting next year’s governorship election in Lagos State on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), said Africa must dismantle bureaucratic bottlenecks and build an enabling environment that allowed technology innovations to scale into sustainable solutions capable of transforming economies and improving citizens’ lives.
He said: “Africa does not have an innovation problem. We have a scaling problem. And scale is a systems question. The distance between a good idea and a system that works for millions — that is where government lives. Across the continent, entrepreneurs, researchers and communities are already developing solutions to some of Africa’s most urgent challenges.
“The real challenge is creating the infrastructure, policies, financing and partnerships needed to move those solutions beyond isolated success stories and make them accessible to millions. Government must therefore do more than support innovation; it must build the systems that allow African ideas to grow, endure and deliver meaningful impact at scale.”
Speaking on the theme: “The Enabling State: What Government Must Become for Technology to Scale”, Hamzat said government must move beyond its traditional role as a regulator to become an enabler of innovation by providing shared digital infrastructure, ensuring predictable policies, supporting research and development, and building institutions capable of sustaining technological progress beyond individual administrations.
The deputy governor highlighted Lagos State’s investments in digital infrastructure, disclosing that about 3,000 kilometres of fibre ducts and networks had been laid, with a further $22 million invested towards developing a unified 6,000-kilometre network.
He said more than 6.4 million residents had been enrolled in the state’s resident identity system, while digital reforms had streamlined public services, including physical planning permits and mortgage consent processing.
Hamzat said Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) had supported 80 researchers and more than 75 start-ups, with approximately N1 billion available in grants for innovators, adding that the state was considering an innovation law that would commit a fixed proportion of its annual budget to research, development and risk capital to ensure sustained support for local technology enterprises.
The deputy governor called for stronger collaboration between government and industry, proposing measurable commitments on both sides to accelerate digital transformation.
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of CWG Plc, Adewale Adeyipo, described TeXcellence as a platform that has evolved over five years into a strategic forum for shaping Africa’s digital future.
He urged African governments, technology companies and other stakeholders to prioritise digital sovereignty, local Artificial Intelligence infrastructure and sustainable deployment of technology to secure the continent’s future.
Adeyipo challenged stakeholders to move beyond experimenting with technology to building and deploying sustainable solutions that will strengthen Africa’s ownership of its technological destiny, stressing that the continent must take deliberate steps to own and shape its digital future rather than depend solely on innovations and infrastructure developed elsewhere.
According to him, Africa must deliberately invest in local computing infrastructure, expand access to affordable digital devices, improve digital literacy and ensure that AI solutions move beyond pilot stages into reliable, commercially viable systems. He emphasised that the continent’s digital transformation must be driven by clear direction, sustained investment and measurable outcomes, rather than speed alone.
