GrowthX: Industry leaders identify infrastructure, trust as keys to data localisation - ITREALMS

Industry leaders have emphasized that Nigeria's digital economy requires stronger local infrastructure, trusted digital identity, and skilled talent to translate technology adoption into economic value. Stakeholders made the remarks in Lagos at the inaugural GrowthX by Techeconomy & TiLAwards, reports ITREALMS.

Adesola Akinsanya, president of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), stated that digital growth relies on collaboration among people, institutions, and businesses. 

 

Akinsanya noted that closing the gap between potential and impact requires trust, talent, and infrastructure carrying a Nigerian identity, pointing to NiRA’s .ng Academy and Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) implementations.

Dr. Ayotunde Coker, chief executive officer of Open Access Data Centre (OADC), noted that information technology underpins major sectors including banking, oil and gas, and government services. Coker stressed that digital infrastructure reliability is vital for financial institutions, adding that subsea cable expansions and hyperscale data centres are shaping Nigeria's readiness for cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence.

Addressing delegates at The Civic Centre, Victoria Island, cybersecurity strategist and futurist David Adeoye Abodunrin delivered a keynote on building next-generation digital payments. Pointing to NIBSS data showing digital payments crossing ₦1 quadrillion alongside a 51 per cent drop in fraud losses to ₦25.85 billion in 2025, Abodunrin argued that Nigeria faces a trust-architecture problem rather than a payment problem.

Abodunrin proposed a five-layer Trust-by-Design Stack encompassing secure code, resilient rails, behavioural design, sovereign data practices, and shared accountability. He closed by launching the Lagos Trust Pact, a voluntary commitment for stakeholders to design systems with integrated trust and run a 90-day self-assessment scorecard.

Financial sector stakeholders expressed concern over the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) six-month deadline requiring full data localisation by January 1, 2027, warning that the timeframe is too short and lacks clarity.

Blessing Ehize, Chief Technology Officer at FCMB, noted that the Committee of Bank CIOs has faced friction due to a lack of direct regulatory engagement regarding on-premise versus hybrid cloud requirements. While acknowledging national capacity, Ehize called for a structured roadmap rather than a rushed implementation.

Hakeem Adeniji-Adele, Deputy Managing Director of eTranzact, acknowledged that while the CBN has engaged the fintech community, the timeline remains restrictive given the massive volume of cloud data. Adeniji-Adele advocated for a phased approach dividing compute and storage tasks.

Peter Oluka, founder and editor-in-chief of Techeconomy, concluded that GrowthX was established to tackle the harder questions surrounding scale, infrastructure, regulation, and inclusive growth, affirming that Africa's digital challenges demand cross-sector cooperation.