Nigeria and Lagos Back the Event<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe event runs under the patronage of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR. It takes place across Abuja and Lagos from 31 August to 3 September 2026. The Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy is supporting the programme, working alongside the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). Additionally, the Lagos State Government has endorsed the event. KAOUN International, the global organiser of GITEX events, is running the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the inauguration, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General of NITDA, spoke about Nigeria’s push toward digital sovereignty. He said achieving true digital sovereignty means owning the capabilities, infrastructure, and intelligence that power the country’s future. He pointed to strategic initiatives such as DL4ALL, 3MTT, and Project BRIDGE, noting they are scaling Nigeria’s technical talent pool. These programmes are also extending high-speed digital inclusion across every local government area, he added. Furthermore, he said Nigeria is building the policy, cloud infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks needed to host data locally, deploy AI responsibly, and lift national productivity. As a result, he said, GITEX NIGERIA positions the country as a global force shaping the international tech ecosystem, rather than simply participating in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lagos Eyes Compute and Government Tech Markets<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, Lagos is turning national momentum into investable opportunity. The state’s growing connectivity, regulatory reforms, and public-sector digitalisation are opening new markets for technology providers and international capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State said most international capital views Nigeria through the lens of consumer fintech. However, he said that view misses two under-priced opportunities. First, he pointed to compute infrastructure. Lagos is one of the most cable-landed cities in Africa, he explained, yet it currently hosts little of the compute capacity that should sit behind that connectivity. He noted that Africa’s AI workloads are still processed in Europe, creating problems around latency, cost, and data sovereignty. Therefore, he argued, this gap represents a clear investment opportunity, supported by the state’s electricity law, fibre programme, and data centre campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, he highlighted the government technology market itself. Lagos operates a budget larger than several West African countries combined, he said. As the state digitises procurement, revenue collection, permitting, health records, transport, and land administration, it is creating a recurring, creditworthy enterprise software market. According to the governor, most global technology firms have not yet properly tapped into this market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Summit Pushes Indigenous Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Abuja Government Leadership & AI Summit reinforced a shared commitment among federal and state leaders. Their goal is to accelerate Nigeria’s technology-led economic transformation. The summit also highlighted the country’s ambition to move from consuming technology toward building indigenous innovation and digital sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Dr George Akume, CON, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said Nigeria is driving toward a $1 trillion economy under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. To reach that goal, he said, the country must move beyond basic connectivity and build genuine indigenous innovation and digital sovereignty. He described GITEX NIGERIA as the strategic platform where government vision aligns with private-sector execution. Consequently, he said, Nigeria has the opportunity to shift from being a consumer of foreign technology to becoming a global producer of talent, sovereign infrastructure, and inclusive AI. “We are leading a new era for Africa,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sovereign AI Dialogue Draws Global Experts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nHeld under the theme “Beyond Connectivity \u2013 The Bridge to Sovereign AI & Innovation,” the summit placed technology leadership, coordinated policymaking, and cross-sector collaboration at the centre of discussion. Over 500 public- and private-sector leaders and investors from across the region and around the world attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout the day, sessions examined how Africa can turn digital ambition into trusted infrastructure, scalable innovation, and long-term economic value. Topics ranged from digital public infrastructure, AI, cybersecurity, and data sovereignty to connectivity, investment, and strategic partnerships. More than 25 international experts joined the summit to discuss the foundations West African economies need to strengthen technological capability while boosting inclusion, productivity, and regional competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monday’s sessions also covered policy, infrastructure, financing models, and partnerships. One panel, “Backbone Infrastructure & Last-Mile Connectivity: Cables, Satellites & Blended Finance,” explored how cables, towers, satellites, edge infrastructure, and blended finance can help close Africa’s connectivity gap. Another, “Getting Private Capital to Move into Digital Infrastructure,” addressed the risk, governance, and deal-structure barriers limiting commercial investment across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Industry leaders also joined a session titled “An African Opportunity: The Turning Point of eGov & Digital Interoperability.” This discussion looked at Africa’s accelerating digital government transformation. It also examined emerging opportunities for technology providers, investors, and financial institutions as countries scale digital identity, payment, and data-exchange systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lagos Tech Expo to Follow in September<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter the Abuja summit, the event moves to Lagos from 2\u20133 September for the Tech Expo. This leg runs alongside the Future Economy Conference and FDX by GITEX. It will give local and regional entrepreneurs and startups a platform to scale, connect with international capital, form new partnerships, and reach global markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 200 investors from 30 countries are set to participate. Together, they manage US$200 billion in assets. New international funds joining the programme include France’s Askya Investment Partners, Belgium’s Incofin Investment, Kenya- and Netherlands-based Triple Jump, UK-based Lightrock, UAE-based Global Ventures, and US-based Innovest Afrika.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event’s impact has already reached beyond the show floor. At the inaugural 2025 edition, venture studio FirstFounders connected with 18 startups. Three of them, LabTracka, Vant, and GraceAI, went on to enter deeper discussions with the firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vant, an AI-powered business banking and management platform, has since joined the FirstFounders portfolio. The firm invested US$200,000 in the company, combining capital with operational support. This outcome shows how engagement at GITEX NIGERIA<\/a> can grow into longer-term investment and growth opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GITEX NIGERIA officially opened in Abuja on Monday. The event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":107106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9697,10575],"tags":[10576],"contributor":[9732],"class_list":["post-107110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-gitex-nigeria-2026","tag-gitex-nigeria","contributor-news-desk"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Nigeria-Woos-200B.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Lubna","author_link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/author\/lubna\/"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107111,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107110\/revisions\/107111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107110"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=107110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}