Kadri Hamzat, deputy governor of Lagos State, has emphasised the need for the government and private sector to bridge Africa’s technology gap through sustained investment in digital infrastructure, predictable policies and institutional reforms in order to translate technological breakthroughs into solutions capable of touching millions of lives.
Hamzat made the call at the fifth edition of TeXcellence, organised by CWG Plc, with the theme, “Accelerating Africans digital future lacks direction and a sustained force,” held in Lagos on Tuesday. He noted that Africa’s challenge was no longer a shortage of innovation but the inability to scale successful ideas into sustainable systems that deliver widespread economic and social benefits.
According to him, African must dismantle bureaucratic bottlenecks and build an enabling environment that allows technology innovations to scale into sustainable solutions capable of transforming economies and improving citizens’ lives.
“Africa does not have an innovation problem. We have a scaling problem. And scale is a systems question. The distance between a good idea and a system that works for millions — that is where government lives. Across the continent, entrepreneurs, researchers and communities are already developing solutions to some of Africa’s most urgent challenges.
“The real challenge is creating the infrastructure, policies, financing and partnerships needed to move those solutions beyond isolated success stories and make them accessible to millions. Government must therefore do more than support innovation; it must build the systems that allow African ideas to grow, endure and deliver meaningful impact at scale”, Hamzat said.
In his presentation titled, “Enabling state: what the government must become for technology to scale”, Hamzat said government must move beyond its traditional role as a regulator to become an enabler of innovation by providing shared digital infrastructure, ensuring predictable policies, supporting research and development, and building institutions capable of sustaining technological progress beyond individual administrations.
Hamzat, who is also the governorship candidate of the APC in the 2027 general election, highlighted Lagos State’s investments in digital infrastructure, disclosing that about 3,000 kilometres of fibre ducts and networks had been laid, with a further $22 million invested towards developing a unified 6,000-kilometre network.
He added that more than 6.4 million residents had been enrolled in the state’s resident identity system, while digital reforms had streamlined public services, including physical planning permits and mortgage consent processing.
Hamzat also disclosed that the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) had supported 80 researchers and more than 75 startups, with approximately N1 billion available in grants for innovators, adding that the state is considering an innovation law that would commit a fixed proportion of its annual budget to research, development and risk capital to ensure sustained support for local technology enterprises.
He further called for stronger collaboration between government and industry, proposing measurable commitments on both sides to accelerate digital transformation.
Speaking also, Adewale Adeyipo, the group managing director of CWG Plc, described TeXcellence as a platform that has evolved over five years into a strategic forum for shaping Africa’s digital future.
He urged African governments, technology companies and other stakeholders to prioritise digital sovereignty, local Artificial Intelligence infrastructure and sustainable deployment of technology to secure the continent’s future.
Adeyipo challenged stakeholders to move beyond experimenting with technology to building and deploying sustainable solutions that will strengthen Africa’s ownership of its technological destiny, stressing that the continent must take deliberate steps to own and shape its digital future rather than depend solely on innovations and infrastructure developed elsewhere.
According to him, Africa must deliberately invest in local computing infrastructure, expand access to affordable digital devices, improve digital literacy and ensure that AI solutions move beyond pilot stages into reliable, commercially viable systems.
He emphasised that the continent’s digital transformation must be driven by clear direction, sustained investment and measurable outcomes, rather than speed alone.
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