The energy in Nigeria’s tech scene is strong. Over the last 10 years, a new generation of innovators has emerged across Africa, from Nairobi to Cape Town. They are building solutions for their own communities rather than for distant markets.

Yet the question remains: can Africa go beyond just using imported technologies and actually develop the next generation of homegrown solutions that can scale globally?

The signs are promising. Africa’s digital economy is projected to reach $180 billion by 2025 and as much as $712 billion by 2050. In just the first five months of 2025, startups across the continent raised more than $1 billion in funding, with Nigeria leading the pack.

But behind the headlines lies a deeper challenge: to ensure this growth is not just about foreign investors backing familiar fintech models, but about unleashing the continent’s full innovative potential.

Building for Local Realities

Imported solutions have long struggled to meet Africa’s unique needs and will continue to do so. A payment system designed for Europe’s smooth banking infrastructure, for instance, fails in areas where cash is dominant and internet access is unreliable. This gap, however, has opened the door for local innovation. M-Pesa in Kenya changed the game for mobile money, providing financial access to millions without bank accounts. In Nigeria, LifeBank has digitised blood supply chains, linking thousands of hospitals with vital resources.

These are not mere copies of existing models; they succeeded because they were designed for the specific realities of African societies.

They show that real change occurs when technology is tailored for the local context. At Quomodo Systems Africa, we have always believed that Africa’s strength is not in mimicking Silicon Valley but in tackling African issues with homegrown solutions. Whether in healthcare, agriculture, or logistics, successful entrepreneurs will be those who best understand their environment.

There is also a need for more strategic handshakes between entrepreneurs and the government in developing suitable policies that promote business growth. Nigeria’s Startup Act, enacted in 2022, marked a significant step forward, establishing a legal framework to help founders access funding, incentives, and clearer regulations.

Similar initiatives are appearing across the continent, showing that governments recognise technology as a key driver of growth.

However, policy frameworks are just the starting point. Implementation is more important. Too much funding still goes into fintech, leaving other important sectors lacking support. At the same time, infrastructure issues are severe: broadband access in Africa is only 37 percent, and in Nigeria, power outages can disrupt innovation just as much as inadequate investment. Without affordable internet, reliable electricity, and good logistics, even the brightest ideas can struggle.

We must find a way to keep our best talents within the shores of our country and also build a system that allows them to thrive. Nigeria, with an average age of just 16.9 years, has a lot of potential. Yet brain drain is a worry, as many talented individuals move abroad for better opportunities. The challenge lies not only in producing more skilled engineers but also in fostering an environment where they want to stay, build, and grow.

From Local to Global

If nurtured properly, Africa’s startup ecosystem could mirror the path India took with IT outsourcing. India’s industry, worth more than $245 billion today, grew out of deliberate investments in education, skills alignment, and export-oriented policies. Africa, with its demographic dividend, has the raw material for a similar transformation.

Nearly 70 percent of its population is under 30, compared to ageing populations in much of Europe and Asia.

Already, global tech giants are paying attention. Microsoft and Meta have invested heavily in African hubs, while European firms such as Telesoftas have set up operations in Lagos after successful talent partnerships.

For Africa, the goal should not just be to host foreign branches but to grow indigenous giants that can compete internationally.

The success of Nigerian unicorns like Flutterwave, Interswitch, and Andela proves this is possible. Each began by solving local problems but is now recognised on the global stage. The next wave must broaden beyond payments into health, education, green energy, and agriculture, sectors that define Africa’s development trajectory.

Reframing the Narrative

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is perception. Too often, Africa is viewed as a recipient of aid rather than a producer of innovation. This narrative undermines investor confidence and obscures the remarkable successes already unfolding on the ground. Every startup that scales, every engineer who excels abroad, chips away at outdated stereotypes.

At Quomodo Systems Africa, we see part of our role as telling this story differently: championing African innovation, advocating for supportive policies, and helping local startups position themselves not just for survival but for global relevance.

Scaling Africa’s startup ecosystem will require collaboration across borders and sectors. Governments must commit to consistent, innovation-friendly policies.

Investors must show patience and an appetite for risk. Entrepreneurs must keep building with context at the core, not imitation. And the diaspora must remain engaged, bringing back skills, networks, and capital.

If these pieces come together, Africa could leap from being a fast-growing market to a global tech powerhouse. The stakes are not abstract. They are about jobs for millions of young people, better healthcare for families, more efficient agriculture for farmers, and a stronger, more resilient economy for the continent.

The shift from adoption to innovation is already underway. The question is whether we can scale it fast enough. The potential is undeniable. The opportunity is urgent. And the time to act is now.

*Oluwole Asalu is the Founder and CEO of Quomodo Systems Africa, a thought leader dedicated to advancing Nigeria’s ICT ecosystem and fostering innovation across the continent.

The post From Adoption to Innovation: Scaling Africa’s Startup Ecosystem appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This is as the independent broadband quality monitoring company has called on MTN, the largest telecommunications, in terms of subscriber base, to improve on critical areas of its network services across the country.

Enextgen Wireless has been providing consumer experience on mobile networks through its flagship National Independent Wireless Broadband Quality Reporting (NIWBQR) which measures the quality of effort in Radio Frequency engineering invested in commercial LTE network.

In the latest report which focuses on MTN Nigeria LTE network, Enextgen Wireless reported that all of the areas covered are major population centers, not some uninhabited areas where poor coverage quality might be expected.

Report Details:

Poor service quality in many areas on a typical day

On January 31, 2022, poor service quality is shown by many of our probes.

Locations of poor service quality:

Port Harcourt (River State); Egbeda in Lagos; Yaba in Lagos and Kaduna

Quality issues at No. 1 Harvey Road, Yaba – Average latency plot

Garbled voice and many reconnections during  Microsoft Teams voice call sessions. Delayed delivery of IM messages. Unbearable video conference quality.

“This is typical of the quality of the service that MTN provides in Yaba. It is nearly unimaginable to go for 30 minutes on MTN LTE network without noticeable disruption to the quality of the network.

“We have traced these disruptions to increased packet latencies and loss due, occasionally, to poor RF quality but mainly core network issues. These are all problems that MTN could resolve or, at least, mitigate, if it felt it necessary to.

Adelphi, Maryland in poorer RF condition than the one in the last slide for MTN in Yaba, Lagos – Average latency plot in Verizon Wireless

We used similar probe and the same platform as used for MTN in Yaba to generate this plot.

Verizon Wireless has only 4G LTE coverage (no 5G) at this location.

Average RSRP in Verizon Wireless at this location was about -110 dBm while average RSRP at the Yaba location in MTN was about -105 dBm and this was the worst performance period of the day at this location in Verizon Wireless that is not relied upon for internet access.

Typical average latency plot in Verizon Wireless 4G LTE at the same location as previous slide

We used similar probe and the same platform as used for MTN in Yaba to generate this plot.

RF quality in bins where packet latency was higher than 250 ms on January 31, 2022

In this example poor user experience was not due to the quality of the Radio Frequency signal, as each of the bins had high-enough RF quality for good user experience.

In other words, core network issues such as congestion, or insufficient transport layer provisioning are more likely to have been the causes of the poor quality of service.

Huge quantities of packet loss made for extremely poor quality of service at this location.

RF was of high-enough quality to keep UE in LTE. In the alternative, the UE could simply be kept in 3G. Instead, the UE switched frequently between LTE and 3G making the connection completely worthless.

With any amount of care, MTN could avoid this situation by keeping the UE on one of the two networks. This is typically called RF Optimization. For Ilorin basic pre-deployment RF optimization appears lacking.

The MTN 4G LTE network in Ilorin appears to be a case of even perfunctory pre-deployment optimization not being done.

How could this have happened? Could MTN be getting its clue from our government? We understand that the regulatory agency is very busy. We are doing our very best to encourage network operators not to take all the advantages our system afford them at the expense of the ordinary human Nigerians and small enterprises at once.

Good RF quality in LTE. Unnecessary IRATs to 3G contribute to poor quality of service

Commenting on the report, Engineer Aderemi Adeyeye, President of Enext Inc., said:

“When we lodged complaint with MTN, the speed of response was impressive. However as far as we could tell MTN did not take any action beyond letting us know, the next day, they fixed the problem. We have not received any answer to the question of what problem they fixed and/or what they did to fix that problem. All we know is that the issues we reported on persist.

“Honestly, MTN’s paternalistic attitude in response to our complaint boggled our minds.

“MTN appears to be answerable only to MTN. The public being served (at least ordinary Nigerians and small enterprises) has no voice. The regulatory agency seems to have little time to spare for quality monitoring given the enormous amount of time needed for self-adulation. It doesn’t even acknowledge (on its website) the existence of LTE as a 3GPP standard for 4G.

“The reality of the Nigerian context is that broadband internet access is synonymous with LTE internet access.

“The bulk of Nigerians do not have any other access to real internet (we are discounting 2G/3G as means of broadband internet access).

“We welcome specific request for our raw data from MTN if for the purpose of improving the quality issues identified in this report.

“The objective is to entice MTN to improve the quality of its network. We just like millions of other Nigerian individuals and small enterprises rely on the network for broadband internet connection”.

To visualize the quality of 4G LTE coverage in Nigeria, visit the website HERE. Enextgen Wireless is constantly adding probes to cover more areas.

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There is no gainsaying that these markets are due for closure. However, what next after the re-opening of the markets?

One of the places in town synonymous with huge refuse generation is the markets. Many times, markets are considered to belong to nobody; as such, traders want their immediate environment habitable for their businesses, and at the close of the day, they “drop” the byproducts of their wares somewhere, mainly on the roadside by the huge refuse collector and head to their various abodes.

Yes, we will not, but blame the traders for not doing the appropriate thing. However, with the recent strategic move of the Ministry of Environment and LAWMA, everybody will know that it is no more business as usual. You have to take full responsibility for your environment, or else, the state will deal with you.

However, there needs to be a pivotal strategy by the government to ensure that refuses do not become a menace for the traders, with the campaign on Circular Economy and how to achieve this. It is time to really put this into action for the good of every Lagosian.

The Lagos State Government and LAWMA need to design a model of evacuation of refuse to these markets so that there would be seamless management.

For instance, Mile 12 markets, wherein groceries are sold at the open market, will always have perishable items. There is a need for the government to know if this waste can be used to nourish the soil or even made into consumables for livestock. If this is done, there will be a significant drop in wastage that we currently face as a nation.

At the moment, there are some peculiar markets, Computer Village and Alaba, Aswani and Yaba, with products that the world is still grappling with the best way of handling its waste; these are the largely electronic-related-waste and clothes. We do not have a model that will resolve waste, and it has become expedient to know how to fix this challenge too.

The peculiarity of each market will determine what will be done to ensure that we get the best out of the waste produced daily. So, we need to develop a strategy for markets that deal in motor parts, fashion, and accessories, pieces of furniture, metals, amongst others.

I would also want to drum up support for the state government’s action. As a result of the import-dependent nature of the Nigerian economy, many traders have had the opportunity to travel to nations wherein they import their wares and also gone on pilgrimage either to Jerusalem or Saudi Arabia. The famous saying, “Opopo Mecca mo roro”, means the streets of Mecca are sparkling clean. However, we all enjoy making our roads stink.

With the level of Government investment in LAWMA and the franchisees located across the state, there are still insufficient waste truck collectors that can serve these markets daily, and that is why the level of waste keeps growing geometrically and the unending competitive need for the services of these waste collectors from the residential areas to the commercial areas.

This might warrant the closure of the commercial spaces every week because of the attendant waste.

The LAWMA Summer Academy for children needs to be infused into the curriculum for students of Lagos State so that we can begin to catch them young.

If the content of the training is made available to children through the classroom, they will, in turn, educate their parents, and this will lead to attitudinal change in the community at large.

Beyond the sanctions on residential and commercial areas on issues of waste management, a stakeholder forum on effective waste management for a mega city like Lagos needs to be organized so that we can take lessons that will turn our waste into wealth.

The game is not over, the advocacy is not over, and the attitudinal change should really begin now across all societal strata so that our Lagos can also receive accolades for being one of the cleanest states in Nigeria and Africa at large.

*Olutayo Irantiola, PR Consultant, Creative Writer and Public Affairs Analyst writes from Lagos, Nigeria. He blogs on www.peodavies.com, and can be reached via peodaviescomms@gmail.com.

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