By The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, took opportunity at the GITEX Africa 2025 which is currently being held in Marrakech, Morocco to market the upcoming GITEX Nigeria holding in two locations.
Speaking at with global key players in the IT sector, including startups and investors during a GITEX Breakfast meeting, he painted a vibrant picture of Nigeria’s digital landscape where according to him, innovation meets opportunity, and where government commitment aligns with grassroots entrepreneurial drive.
He disclosed that the GITEX Nigeria conference is set to be a milestone moment with Abuja which is the nation’s policy capital, hosting discussions on investor-friendly reforms and policy frameworks, and Lagos, the home to Africa’s most vibrant startup ecosystem, showcasing the energy, innovation, and investment potentials.
“We have the talent and we have the digital native population and we are nurturing an innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem because we need to challenge the status quo, we need to use technology to disrupt the way we do things and we need to create a collective intelligence where people work with technology to make lives better and that is the Nigeria we are creating,” he said.
“Nigeria is a country with a large, youthful, innovative, creative, and highly competent workforce, where startups and scale-ups can continuously thrive, and where entrepreneurial spirit and technological advancement shape and create the landscape,” he stated.
He emphasised that Nigeria, with over 70% of its population under the age of 25, holds one of the youngest populations globally, positioning it as a talent hub for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The NITDA boss further noted that the government’s vision aims to elevate Nigeria into an emerging global digital economy through comprehensive reforms, infrastructure investment, and an aggressive digital literacy agenda.
Inuwa added, “We are also promoting cloud adoption because you cannot succeed today with on-prem infrastructure, but you need to be on the cloud, and you need to have agility.”
Chief Executive Officer of Alami Capital, Olu Olufemi White appealed for active participation at the GITEX Nigeria saying, “You can start to see what happens when you support us. Please don’t wait till we become big and the rest of the world begins to tell our stories; we want you to tell it for us and we want to walk and work hand in hand with you to build the nation of our dreams.”
In his remark, the Sales Director of ZOHO, Mr Vijayaragavan Venugopal stated that Zoho has been predominantly focusing on the African market for the last seven years and has witnessed tremendous growth in the African market, with Nigeria leading at the forefront.
“We are happy that we are going to be there in Nigeria along with GITEX and the event will not only empower the Nigeria market but the whole of Africa and it is going to be an opportunity to gather amongst each other, talk about tech, and grow together in the entire African market,” he said.
