Lagos has cemented its position as Africa’s leading digital economy hub, driven by deliberate investments in technology and enabling infrastructure, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said.
Speaking on Tuesday at the launch of the Kasi Cloud Hyperscale Data Centre Campus in Lekki, Mr Sanwo-Olu described the facility as a transformative addition to Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and economic landscape.
He called on foreign investors and development partners to back infrastructure projects in the state, citing its investment-friendly climate. “Lagos is open for infrastructure investment, and we honour our commitments,” he said. “If you are building cloud or AI infrastructure, Lagos wants to work with you. Enabling infrastructure is not charity; it is economic strategy.”
Reflecting on the past decade, the governor noted that Lagos has evolved into Nigeria’s premier technology ecosystem and data centre hub, consistently attracting innovation, enterprise demand, and capital despite persistent operational and infrastructure challenges.
“Over the past decade, Lagos has established itself as the beating heart of Africa’s digital economy,” Mr Sanwo-Olu said. “This is the city that produced unicorns; where fintech evolved from experiments into global enterprises. Our innovators looked at power constraints, connectivity gaps, and every operational obstacle—and still chose to build.”
He added that Lagos currently accounts for a substantial share of Nigeria’s installed data centre capacity and remains strategically positioned to lead the next phase of the global digital economy. “Connectivity lands here. Enterprise demand lives here. Innovation grows here. Capital gathers here. But we are not satisfied. The next phase will be led by cities deliberately building enabling infrastructure at scale.”
Key government reforms have supported this growth, including the Lagos State Electricity Law, fibre-optic expansion, digital skills programmes, and innovation funding initiatives. “Great infrastructure does not arrive in a vacuum; it is attracted by policy,” Mr Sanwo-Olu stressed.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, hailed the project as a milestone in Nigeria’s economic modernisation and digital transformation. He said the centre would boost innovation, enterprise productivity, and Nigeria’s competitiveness in an AI-driven global economy.
Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science, and Technology, Tunbosun Alake, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting investors and tech-driven enterprises, with heavy investment in fibre optics, data centres, and startup ecosystem development. “We are strengthening the startup ecosystem not just to be technology adopters, but technology creators,” he said.
Kasi Cloud Founder and CEO, Johnson Agogbua, noted that the hyperscale data centre was established to accelerate technological advancement and digital innovation across Nigeria.
