Lagos remains beating heart of Africa’s digital economy — Sanwo-Olu

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Tuesday said Lagos has established itself as the beating heart of Africa’s digital economy over the past decade.

He said Lagos is open for infrastructure investment and therefore urged international partners and institutional investors to partner and invest in Lagos.

He said: “Lagos is open for infrastructure investment, and we honour the commitments we make. 

“If you are building cloud infrastructure, Lagos wants to work with you. 

“If you are building AI infrastructure, Lagos wants to work with you. 

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“Enabling infrastructure is not charity; it is economic strategy.”

Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke at the Ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Kasi Cloud Hyperscale Data Center Campus in Lekki, Lagos. 

He said the centre aligns so powerfully with his administration’s THEMES+ Agenda, particularly Technology and Innovation and Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy.

He said: “Over the past decade Lagos has established itself as the beating heart of Africa’s digital economy. 

“This is the city that produced unicorns; the city 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. 

“That resilience is why the world watches Lagos, but resilience alone should not be our long‑term strategy.

“Today, Lagos is already the data-centre capital of Nigeria, commanding a substantial share of the nation’s installed capacity. Connectivity lands here. 

“Enterprise demand lives here. 

“Innovation grows here. 

“Capital gathers here. 

“But we are not satisfied. 

“The next phase of the global digital economy will be led by cities that deliberately build enabling infrastructure at scale, and this Kasi Cloud campus is precisely that kind of enabling infrastructure.”

Governor Sanwo-Olu also noted: “Great infrastructure does not arrive in a vacuum. 

“It is attracted by policy. 

“That is why our administration has been deliberate about creating an enabling environment.

“The Lagos State Electricity Law is a central example. 

“Through this reform we are shaping a more reliable, investment‑friendly energy future capable of supporting industrial growth, advanced manufacturing, digital infrastructure, and next‑generation compute ecosystems.

“We have also invested in fibre‑optic connectivity, digital skills development, the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council, and smarter public‑private collaboration across our technology ecosystem. 

“Ecosystems do not emerge by accident; they are built and sustained through intentional policy over time. 

“This is why the Kasi Cloud campus aligns so powerfully with our THEMES Agenda, particularly Technology and Innovation and Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy.”

Also speaking, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the commissioning of the Kasi Cloud Hyperscale Data Center is one of the defining moments in Nigeria’s economic modernisation and digital transformation.

Oyedele said: The project is a national infrastructure that strengthens the foundation for innovation and expansion opportunities for enterprise and enhances productivity across sectors and positions Nigeria as a competitive player in an increasingly AI-driven world. 

“It is in every sense an investment in Nigeria’s future.”

The Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Tunbosun Alake, said the State Government is committed to providing a friendly and enabling environment for investors.

Alake said: “Lagos State under leadership of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is investing in critical infrastructures such as fibre optics, data centres, smart tech fund, city management and most importantly putting funds behind innovation programmes in universities and strengthening the startup ecosystem not just so that we will be technology adopters but we will be technology creators.”

Speaking earlier, the Founder and CEO of Kasi Cloud, Johnson Agogbua, said the establishment of the Kasi Cloud Hyperscale Data Center is for technological development and advancement.

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