Nigeria Dubbed as Africa’s Next Silicon Valley @IoT West Africa

Shitij Taneja, Managing Director of Vertex Next, a subsidiary of Vertex Group and organisers of IoT West Africa Conference and Exhibition has tipped Nigeria as the new African Silicon Valley because of its burgeoning startup ecosystem.

He made this assertion during a media chat with Journalists at the ongoing IoT West Africa Conference and Exhibition holding at the Balmoral Center, Federal Palace, Lagos, Nigeria.

According to him, Nigerian startup ecosystem is blossoming with a vibrant young tech enthusiast.

Taneja averred that this enthusiasm informed why they chose Nigeria as the host of this year’s conference.

He said, “Nigeria’s vast youth population and the vibrant startup ecosystem makes it a powerhouse for technology development in Africa.

“The reason we are hosting the IoT West Africa, which is co-located with Africa data center and cloud Expo Africa is because we see a lot of potential in the market and the growing number of youths that are working towards the development of technology.

“Also, IoT is something that is required in our daily lives, to which West Africa and Nigeria is adapting to.

“IoT is required as we are adopting to technologies. It’s something that is required in our daily lives and Nigeria is adapting to, whether it’s our coffee machine, our cities, or even with our daily shopping, so this is some of the things we are trying to bring over here with this conference.”

He further stated that startup ecosystem in Africa has attracted over $70 billion in investment with Nigeria having a huge chunk of that money.

According to him, “We see a lot of investments coming in from the data centers on the telecom side towards the sector.

“We also see a lot of investors, pouring in money for the startups. There are a lot of startups in Africa alone, till now there has been an investment of around $70 billion that has been invested in the startups and we are just acting as an aggregator to fuel this fire to enhance more investments towards the West African economy”.

Speaking at the event, Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), said that Government intends to set up research centres for emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Blockchain across all six geo-political zones of the country.

Inuwa made this announcement this during his keynote address on Tuesday at the opening of the 2024 IoT West Africa Conference in Lagos, Nigeria.

Represented by Dr. Aristotle Onumo, NITDA’s Director of Corporate Planning and Strategy, Inuwa stated that the initiative aligns with NITDA’s focus on fostering a strong technology research ecosystem.

In his keynote address titled “Regulatory Framework Challenges to Support IT Developments in West Africa,” Inuwa highlighted that the conference theme resonates with NITDA’s vision, and pointed out that the agency’s research priorities encompass IoT, AI, Blockchain Technology, UAVs, Additive Manufacturing, and Robotics.

Highlighting the accelerated service deliveries, the NITDA DG emphasized that emerging technologies are enhancing rural life by addressing waste disposal challenges, and smart agriculture is transforming food production through various automated agricultural processes.

“We are establishing a special-purpose vehicle that is going to look into these key areas and also establish research centres across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria that will be targeting these six key areas of emerging technologies,” Inuwa said.