Shoyinka Shodunke, chief information officer of MTN Nigeria, said this as he delivered the keynote on the digital economy forecast for 2026 at Tech Revolution Africa Conference 2.0 in Lagos, headlined by MTN. 

Speaking under the theme “The Big Bold Step,” Shodunke stressed that the fourth industrial revolution is the first moment in history where Africa can compete on equal terms, but only if it moves fast.

“The inputs today are data, and where’s the factory? The factory sits in the cloud,” he said.

During the first industrial revolution, the continent was absent. In the second, it supplied raw materials. In the third, it became a consumer of finished technology. Each delay came at a cost.

“We got punished for the first. Got punished for the second time. We got punished for the third,” he said. “But in the fourth, if we fail to act, we get punished again.”

What makes this era different, he explained, is that scale no longer depends on capital. With cloud services, access to talent from anywhere and locally generated data, the limitations are lower. Startups no longer need massive data centres or years of runway before launching products.

“You can subscribe to cloud services today at $50,” he said. “You don’t have to invest over $100,000 on compute power for you to be able to power your industry.”

Shodunke explained that the actual threat is not lack of technology but fear, fear of disrupting existing business models, revenue streams and comfortable ways of working. He warned that organisations clinging to legacy systems risk repeating Africa’s old mistakes.

“You cannot live with a legacy mindset, a fear of disruption, or with the comfort of mediocrity,” Shodunke further stated at the Tech Revolution Africa Conference 2.0. “Whatever is being built has to be built with a scale in mind, not mediocre.”

Using MTN as a case study, he described how the telecoms giant has had to intentionally disrupt itself, moving beyond voice and data into cloud services, fintech and intelligent platforms layered on top of its network infrastructure.

“History punished everyone who hesitated,” he warned. “So don’t really wait for the perfect time to come in, only take that big bold step.”

In closing, he stressed that the race has already started. Africa is not arriving late anymore, but hesitation could still leave it watching others disrupt.

“Revolution,” Shodunke said, “it punishes hesitations.”

As of early 2025, at least 77 subsea cables were landing on the African continent, far more than a decade ago, and international bandwidth into Africa has expanded, way beyond other regions. 

Total international capacity has really grown, rising several times over since 2019, with Equiano and the Meta‑backed 2Africa among the largest new systems deployed to serve the region. 

These cables carry nearly all international internet traffic and form the backbone of digital economies across the continent. 

However, the benefits of this growth are uneven. In many places, data costs are high, national backbone networks are patchy, and digital growth slows where connectivity is weak. Bandwidth, not apps, not investment, not policy, is impacting Africa’s digital growth.

What We Mean by ‘Bandwidth’

When people speak of internet access in Africa, they usually think of mobile phones and data plans. But that’s the last mile. The real capacity that determines speed, cost and reliability comes from international bandwidth, the long, buried fibre‑optic cables under the oceans that link Africa to the rest of the world.

These subsea cables, usually hundreds to tens of thousands of kilometres long, are responsible for carrying over 95–99% of international internet traffic globally. 

The numbers are commendable:

• Africa now connects to the world via dozens of subsea cables, including legacy systems and new entrants such as Equiano and 2Africa. 
• Equiano, activated in 2023, stretches thousands of kilometres along the Atlantic coast and brings a large increase in capacity over earlier cables. 
• The 2Africa system, at around 45,000 km, is one of the largest subsea cable projects ever built and gives tremendous potential capacity around the continent. 

Cables like these determine how much data can flow into Africa, and how cheaply.

Why More Cables Don’t Automatically Mean Affordable Internet

If bandwidth is available, why is the internet still expensive in many countries?

The short answer: the cost doesn’t stop at the shore.

International bandwidth must be distributed inland via national fibre backbones. It must compete in markets where telcos may hold strong pricing power. It must overcome regulatory challenges and local infrastructure gaps.

A few facts:

• Even in well‑connected countries, data expenses relative to income are high. Affordable data in absolute terms may still be unaffordable in local purchasing power. 
• Landlocked countries depend on neighbours for subsea connections, adding complexity and expense to their Internet access. 
• National fibre networks, the kilometres of cable across cities and regions, are incomplete in many places, preventing subsea capacity from lowering prices at the user level. 

The result? You can have the world’s fastest‑growing international bandwidth market, but still pay among the highest prices per gigabyte relative to income in parts of Africa.

Connectivity and Business: The Actual Costs for SMEs

For small and medium enterprises, bandwidth affects everything:

• Customer access: slow or expensive data limits the ability to sell online or support customers in real time.
• Cloud use: tools for finance, collaboration and inventory depend on stable connections.
• Payments: digital payments are now standard, but they require reliable connectivity to avoid errors and downtime.
• Remote work: teams and contractors must connect efficiently, or productivity collapses.

These are not niche worries but core to doing business in 2026, especially with competitors in Asia and Latin America benefitting from cheaper, abundant bandwidth.

The Politics and Economics of Connectivity

Connectivity is political.

Countries that have diversified cable landings and strong national networking systems, such as Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria, have an advantage. They can manage outages better, negotiate capacity pricing, and attract digital investment.

However, there are still weaknesses:

• Cable cuts due to natural events or anchor strikes have caused major disruptions in West and East Africa in recent years. Repairs are expensive and slow, and outages can knock out essential services. 
• Regulatory fees and licensing policies can slow new cable deployment or raise costs for operators. 

Meanwhile, satellite broadband services, from providers such as Starlink and similar constellations, are expanding coverage, especially in rural and underserved areas. 

Their reach is wider, but equipment prices and regulatory challenges limit their role as the core solution for mass, affordable connectivity. 

Satellite Alternatives: Real Promise, Real Limits

Satellite internet has expanded in Africa, with low‑earth‑orbit systems promising connectivity beyond fibre’s reach.

But there are limitations:

• Cost is high for most small businesses and households compared with mobile or fixed broadband. 
• Latency and reliability can be variable, especially without local ground infrastructure.
• Regulation and licensing differ country by country, slowing roll‑out.

Satellite is a useful complement, not a replacement for fibre‑optic bandwidth, not yet.

The Emerging Divide: Connected Hubs vs the Rest

The biggest danger is not a lack of cables but uneven development.

Where bandwidth is abundant and affordable, digital services grow:

• Businesses scale
• Innovation hubs form
• Educational and health services improve

Where it is scarce or costly, opportunities shrink. Growth plateaus. Digital ecosystems fail to take off.

Fixed broadband penetration in many African countries is still very low even with improving international capacity, a sign that infrastructure improvements alone are not enough without distribution, affordability and competition. 

What Actually Makes Connectivity Work

Stretching fibre under the ocean is only step one.

To boost bandwidth for growth, the following are important:

• Competitive retail markets so prices fall
• National fibre backbones so that capacity reaches businesses and towns
• Policy that welcomes investment and protects infrastructure
• Cross‑border links so landlocked countries aren’t isolated

The Bottom Line

Bandwidth is the economic input that sets the floor for digital productivity.

Africa has come far. Its subsea connections are deep and growing. The potential is enormous. But without affordable, reliable data that reaches businesses and homes, the digital economy will not live up to its projection.

In 2026, we need to treat bandwidth as core infrastructure, like power or roads, the digital vision will stay out of reach for many.

At the heart of the conference, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, was a clear message: Nigeria is ready to shape the future of digital governance through innovation, research, and collaboration.

A Renewed Digital Vision

Guided by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritizes economic reform, infrastructure development, good governance, and digital inclusion, Nigeria used the ICEGOV 2025 platform to reaffirm its commitment to driving a people-centered digital economy.

Leading this charge were Dr. Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and Kashifu Inuwa, director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Together, they echoed a unified vision: technology must not only fuel economic growth but also build trust, transparency, and efficiency in governance.

Setting the Global Digital Governance Agenda

Co-chaired by Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of the United Nations University and UN Under-Secretary-General, alongside Dr. Tijani, the 18th edition of ICEGOV, themed “Shaping the Future of Digital Governance through Cooperation, Innovation, and Inclusion”, brought together experts from academia, government, and industry to explore how technology can improve public service and social inclusion.

Prof. Marwala, in his keynote, called for the responsible and inclusive development of artificial intelligence (AI), stressing that AI must serve humanity, not divide it.

“Artificial intelligence is shaping many areas of our lives, but it must be designed so that it does not leave anyone behind. AI will remain suboptimal until it works equally for all people, including Africans,” he said.

He urged leaders to democratize AI by ensuring that citizens have not only access to the technology but also a collective voice in deciding its use, a call that resonated strongly with Nigeria’s digital inclusion agenda.

Tijani: Innovation Must Serve Humanity

In his keynote address, Dr. Bosun Tijani described Nigeria as standing at the intersection of innovation, youth, and digital transformation.

“The state of a society reflects the ideas that dominate it. When good ideas strike, nations prosper; when bad ideas prevail, nations decay,” he said.

He introduced a thought-provoking model, the Source Balance Ratio, explaining how diverse ideas from government, civil society, academia, and the private sector must align to create effective digital policies.

Dr. Tijani emphasized that technology should always be guided by ethics and research rather than politics or profit.

“If our ideas are driven solely by short-term gains, we end up with regulations that react to innovation rather than guide it,” he cautioned.

NITDA’s Commitment to Digital Skills and Public Infrastructure

Echoing the Minister’s vision, Kashifu Inuwa described ICEGOV 2025 as a milestone in Nigeria’s journey to becoming a digital governance powerhouse.

He highlighted several ongoing initiatives under the Ministry’s strategic roadmap, Accelerating the Nation’s Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency, built on five pillars: Knowledge, Policy, Infrastructure, Trade, and Innovation.

Among the achievements he cited:

• National Digital Literacy Framework: to equip every Nigerian with digital skills from early education to adulthood.
• Collaboration with the Ministry of Education: to integrate digital literacy into school curricula by next year.
• 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Programme: training Nigerians in high-demand digital skills.
• Civil Service Digital Training Initiative: with over 24,000 public servants already enrolled.
• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): development of a national data exchange platform and a Centre of Excellence for DPI to promote trust, transparency, and interoperability in governance.

“Digital transformation is not just about technology; it’s about improving how we serve citizens. Governance must meet people where they are, online,” Inuwa remarked.

Collaborating for Africa’s Digital Future

The conference drew a distinguished lineup of dignitaries, including Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad, Minister of State for Education; Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (represented by Mrs. Fatima S.T. Mahmood); Senator Shuaibu Afolabi Salisu, chairman, Senate Committee on ICT & Cybersecurity; and Stanley Adedeji, chairman, House Committee on ICT.

They commended the Federal Government’s leadership in advancing digital governance, AI ethics, and innovation ecosystems, noting that sustained progress will depend on multilateral collaboration, institutional capacity-building, and stronger digital public infrastructure.

Nigeria’s Leadership on the Global Stage

As ICEGOV 2025 concluded, one message rang clear: Nigeria’s digital reform agenda is not a local ambition, it’s a continental mission.

With its growing investment in digital literacy, AI policy frameworks, and public sector innovation, Nigeria is positioning itself as a key player in shaping the future of electronic governance in Africa.

In the words of Dr. Tijani:

“Digital technologies are no longer just economic tools; they reshape our societies and our citizenship. Our responsibility is to ensure that innovation is guided by ethics, inclusivity, and the public interest.”

Located in the Alaro City corridor, Itana aims to become Africa’s first fully digital economic zone.

I believe this project brings one of the clearest windows into how Nigeria might re-imagine its economic model for the next decade. 

But for real, will it become a measurable impact? This piece examines how Itana works, why it’s important, what stands in its way, and what it means for investors, policymakers and Nigeria’s broader tech ecosystem.

Nigeria’s Tech & Investment Space

Nigeria is home to one of Africa’s largest technology markets. Its fintech sector in particular has produced global-recognised firms and attracts a disproportionate share of Africa-bound venture capital.

But the country still faces structural limitations including power outages, foreign-exchange instability, regulatory uncertainty and infrastructure gaps. 

In the free-zone space, Nigeria already has numerous industrial‐ or manufacturing-oriented zones under the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) framework, more than 44 zones licensed under its regulations as of 2022. 

The typical free-zone model in Nigeria has been rooted in export manufacturing, not digital services. This leaves a gap, even with software, remote work, digital trade and services having the upper hand in the country, Nigeria still risks being left behind unless it adapts.

What Itana Is – Vision, Model, Mechanics

Itana has been built as the first digital free zone in Nigeria, and arguably in Africa. It uses Nigeria’s existing free-zone laws, rather than waiting for entirely new legislation, to launch a business jurisdiction tailored to digital, tech and services companies. 

Key features include:

• A 72,000 m² initial district in Alaro City, Lagos State’s Lekki Free Zone corridor, with mixed-use physical infrastructure: campus, co-living, outdoor work areas, biking trails, reliable power, fibre-optic internet, piped gas and clean water. 
• Incorporation and operations entirely digital: a business can be registered remotely (from Nairobi, London or Yaba) with a fee of $2,000 initial and $1,150 annual renewal, which covers business address, document handling and collaborative space access.
• Regulatory and operational incentives: tax advantages for eligible businesses, ability to operate in foreign currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, etc.), no expatriate quotas for work/residency in the zone, full foreign ownership permitted.
• Strong institutional backing: a partnership with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) that committed $100 million to phase one of the development. 
• Government engagement: in mid-2025, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment pledged to support Itana’s mission to create 100,000 high-value jobs over five years.
  In short: Itana cannot just be described as a piece of land, but a package of infrastructure + regulation + ecosystem for digital/tech services. I view it as a kind of jurisdictional innovation experiment: can Nigeria create a “digital enclave” that is globally competitive?

Why It’s Important: Opportunity & Value Proposition

For global digital businesses, Itana provides a great value proposition: a gateway into Africa with streamlined incorporation, tax/operational incentives, and access to Nigeria’s large market (and by extension, continental reach). 

In other words, less friction to set up and scale from Nigeria. For Nigeria and Africa, Itana offers three major benefits:

• FDI attraction & talent retention – In offering a globally competitive jurisdiction, it may pull in foreign capital and keep diaspora talent or local entrepreneurs from exiting.
• Leap-frogging infrastructure/regulation – Rather than upgrading every regulatory detail nationwide, Nigeria can pilot a high-standards zone. If successful, the model may diffuse.
• Pan-African hub leverage – With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and rising digital services export potential, Nigeria could become a base for cross-border digital services. Analysts note that the shift from manufacturing to services is already overdue in Africa. 

From a strategic viewpoint: if Nigeria wants to pivot from being resource- and manufacturing-centric to services/digital-first, this project is indispensable.

The Risks, Limitations & Questions

No innovation of this scale is free from challenge. I flag several key issues:

• Governance and institutional risk – Even if Itana has its own brand of regulatory ease, it still sits within the bigger Nigerian context: currency risk, political risk, legal enforcement uncertainties. For a global firm, the question is whether the zone’s insulation is real.
• Equity and local integration – Will Itana become an isolated “digital enclave” benefiting only a few, without broad spill-over into the local economy? Are local businesses, workers and talent benefiting? If not, the model may aggravate inequalities.
• Infrastructure delivery – Promises of 24/7 power, dual fibre-optics, piped gas hinge on execution. If the physical layer falters, then the “digital zone” becomes less credible.
• Scalability and replicability – Can the model scale beyond Lagos, and can the regulatory/incentive model survive as more firms come in? There is the risk of rent-seeking, of incentives being watered down, or of the zone attracting “low-value” service firms rather than high-impact innovators.
• External competition and global positioning – Other African countries may seek to offer similar zones. Nigeria must maintain its competitive edge on cost, regulation, talent and infrastructure. If not, Itana may lose out.
• Capital repatriation/FX risk – One of the underlying advantages promised is multi-currency operations and capital movement. But Nigeria’s foreign-exchange regime is still complex, which could undermine this promise.

Implications for Policy, Investors & Ecosystem

For Government and Regulators:

• Must treat Itana not just as a real-estate or tech project but as a regulatory laboratory: immigration, taxation, labour laws, data protection, foreign ownership must align and be stable.
• Should think about integration: how to ensure spill-overs into the wider Nigerian economy, and that the zone doesn’t remain an island.
• Must monitor and report key metrics: jobs created, foreign capital inflow, exports of digital services, and local talent retention.

For Investors & Startups:

• Should assess jurisdictional risk carefully: what is the legal anchor of Itana’s incentives? Are they protected?
• Look at ecosystem strength: beyond infrastructure, what is the talent pool, what are the anchor companies, what’s the exit environment?
• Be aware of cost-benefit: Are the incentives meaningful compared to operating locally or in other jurisdictions?

For the Tech & Talent Ecosystem:

• Nigerian startups should view Itana as potential infrastructure, but not accept it as a replacement for building local capacity and networks.
• Universities, incubators and talent pipelines must feed into this model; otherwise, the zone may import talent rather than develop it locally.
• Digital services export must be pushed: the opportunity is not just in doing business in Nigeria, but serving global clients from Nigeria/Africa.

Comparative Models & Lessons from Abroad

Let’s briefly compare:

• Dubai Internet City (DIFC) – Offers streamlined regulation, physical infrastructure, regional hub status; success was aided by global connectivity and elite infrastructure.
• e‑Estonia – A micro-state digital-first model with e-residency, global incorporation, but benefiting from high institutional trust and digital culture.
• Delaware (USA) – Legal/regulatory jurisdiction favourable to incorporation, low tax burden, strong rule of law. 

The context matters hugely. Singapore, Dubai succeeded in part because they had stable institutions, strong enforcement, legal clarity. Nigeria doesn’t start from that level entirely, so the risk of “free zone in name only” is real. The success of Itana will depend heavily on execution, transparency, and legitimacy.

Roadmap & What to Watch

Key milestones and indicators:

• Completion of the physical campus: the 72,000 m² first district must be built and operational with promised infrastructure (power, connectivity) as of phase one. 
• Number of companies incorporated in Itana: especially foreign/foreign-founded service firms, and the volume of business they conduct from the zone. For example, “more than 70% of companies within Itana’s zone are diaspora-owned or foreign startups.” 
• Job creation outcome: the government-Itana MOU targets 100,000 high-value jobs over five years.
• Export of digital services: growth in services sold from Nigeria/Africa to global markets mediated via the zone.
• Spill-over metrics: talent retention, local start-ups using the infrastructure, integration with local industry, and whether tax incentives and regulatory clarity persist over time.
• Potential derailers: delayed infrastructure, policy reversals, changes in foreign-exchange regime, corruption or governance issues. 

If I were writing this article six months later, I’d look to these indicators to judge whether Itana is just a promising pilot or truly a transformational model for digital economies in Africa.

Itana has come at a sensitive moment for Nigeria and for Africa’s digital economy. It offers a path where regulatory limitations, infrastructure gaps and global competition are tackled through a purpose-built digital free zone. 

The opportunity is real, for foreign firms, for Nigerian talent, and for a continent seeking to leap ahead in services and tech rather than being stuck in resource-or manufacturing-led models.

But the goal will only be realised if execution matches ambition. I remain cautiously optimistic. If Itana successfully delivers on infrastructure, regulation, talent and integration, it could become a gateway for Africa’s sustainable digital growth. 

If it fails, it could become another isolated enclave, admired but limited in impact

And for businesses, this gap means higher expenses, slower access to cloud services and limited ability to scale competitively.

Today, Open Access Data Centres (OADC), a WIOCC Group company, launched Open Access Fabric (OAfabric) in Nigeria (OADC Lagos) and the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC (OADC Texaf – Kinshasa), to leapfrog these limitations and position Nigeria as Africa’s digital nerve centre.

With over 107 million internet users, Nigeria represents the continent’s largest digital market, but enterprises have long had challenges with high latency, expensive transit, and inconsistent local content access. 

The game-changing interconnection platform, OAfabric directly addresses these challenges, providing secure, low-latency connections, direct peering with global cloud providers, and integration with leading African IXPs, including IXPN in Nigeria and KINIX in the DRC.

Speaking at the launch, Dr Ayotunde Coker, chief executive officer of OADC, said “We designed OAfabric around the real challenges African businesses face. It is about solving problems – reducing the cost to compute, improving performance, unlocking access to cloud and content, and creating an environment where companies can scale with confidence while accelerating time to market.”

OAfabric is engineered to scale from 1Gbps to 100Gbps, supporting hybrid colocation architectures, AI workloads, and data-intensive applications. Traditionally, enterprises had to rely on the open internet, risking security breaches and inconsistent performance. Coker highlighted the platform’s protective advantage:

“Without OAfabric, if you want to go to the cloud, you basically have to go to the open internet. All of us understand the disadvantages of pushing your content into the open internet. Companies now have to start building layers of security, all the years of security. 

“But with OAfabric, it is a secured connection, structural cable connection from here all the way into the cloud environment, irrespective of where you are. So you are guaranteed that literally, for someone to hack, he has to use a source and come back in. It’s extremely secure connectivity.”

Resilient, Reliable, and Rapid

The platform’s resilience was demonstrated last year during a subsea cable disruption. OADC restored 2 terabytes of connectivity within 48 hours, a project that would normally take three months, stressing the network’s ability to maintain Africa’s digital backbone under extreme pressure.

Latency is dramatically reduced, a huge factor for enterprises in fintech, cloud services, and AI. Coker explained:

“We deliver a significant, well-reliable, low-latency connection. Latency between here and points in Europe, for instance, is significantly reduced. You can interconnect into Amsterdam, the UK, Marseille. We define with cloud providers exactly where we want to meet them and cross-connect very neatly, and it has a significant result on latency.”

Since 2018, OADC has expanded strategically across the continent. The Lagos data centre in Lekki currently operates at 2 megawatts, with plans to scale to 24 megawatts. 

Facilities in Kinshasa and four South African cities—Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town—serve as interconnection points for global subsea cables including Google Aquiano and 2Africa, creating a robust pan-African network.

Coker elaborated that “OAfabric gives us a more efficient way of delivering growth, not just in one direction, but with the capability to reverse the direction as we have more internet exchanges here, localising data. As we bring more actual cloud on-ramps into the country, we build the infrastructure for those hyperscale ramps to come here, and that’s what we’re doing.”

OAfabric aligns with Nigeria’s mega cloud policy, ensuring sensitive data remains within national borders while empowering local cloud providers to compete with international hyperscalers. It also opens the Nigerian market to foreign investment, enabling cloud edge zones and disaster recovery zones to be deployed with speed and confidence.

Head of Converged Open and Digital Infrastructure, OADC Africa, Obinna Adumike, explained the reach of OAfabric beyond Nigeria and DRC:

“OAfabric is big, and it’s here. We have a very robust connectivity network, and the biggest advantage of that is the fact that WIOCC network can connect you to any country in the world, but most especially the closest continents that Africa impacts on; Africa, Europe, America, and then within the continent, East Africa, Southern Africa and all of that. These are the regions that most of our cloud users either connect to, send, or collect traffic.”

Simplifying Complexity for Enterprises

For businesses, OAfabric transforms previously complex digital operations into seamless, manageable workflows. Coker expatiated this:

“Think of OAfabric as a box in a data centre. You connect to it, choose your pipe size—like deciding between a two-lane or four-lane highway—and your data flows efficiently to the cloud. The faster and more reliable the connection, the better the user experience.”

“OAfabric is not just infrastructure; it represents a shift in what is possible for Africa’s digital economy,” added Dr Coker. “By removing barriers and enabling seamless, high-performance peering between key ecosystems, including local and global Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), content providers, cloud platforms and enterprises, it provides the frictionless interconnection needed to access digital services more efficiently.”

With OAfabric live in Nigeria and the DRC, OADC is creating a resilient, secure, and scalable pan-African digital ecosystem, empowering enterprises, accelerating innovation, and defining a new era of African digital sovereignty.