Nigeria risks remaining largely a consumer rather than a producer of technology unless it urgently deepens investment in local talent, digital infrastructure, indigenous platforms and data-driven innovation, stakeholders at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) pre-summit dialogue have warned.

The warning formed the crux of discussions at the virtual dialogue organised by the NESG in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning ahead of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#32).

The dialogue, themed “Digital Nigeria: The Foundation for Transformation,” brought together policymakers, regulators, technology entrepreneurs and private-sector leaders to examine how digital transformation can become a driver of productivity, competitiveness, investment and economic opportunity.

Speaking at the event, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said Nigeria’s digital transformation must move beyond the mere adoption of technology to fundamentally alter how the economy creates value.

According to him, the real objective should be to build a digital economy capable of improving productivity, strengthening national security and creating wealth from Nigeria’s own talent, data and innovation.

He described digital self-determination as the country’s ability to make meaningful choices about its digital future, arguing that Nigeria must develop the capacity to build, adopt and deploy technologies aligned with its economic and strategic interests.

Abdullahi identified digital literacy and talent development as critical foundations of this transition, noting ongoing efforts to introduce digital skills into formal education, upgrade the capabilities of public servants and strengthen technology talent pipelines.

He said Nigeria’s large youthful population, entrepreneurial culture, domestic market and expanding technology ecosystem provide the country with the ingredients to become a major digital producer.

But he stressed that this potential would remain largely untapped without substantial investment in local talent, infrastructure, technology companies, digital platforms, research and algorithms.

He also called for policies that would ensure Nigeria derives greater economic value from its data, rather than allowing the country’s data resources to fuel value creation predominantly outside the country.

The call for reform was echoed by technology entrepreneurs, who warned that regulatory complexity and fragmented oversight could undermine Nigeria’s ability to compete in the global digital economy.

Co-founder of TradePal AI, Femi Adegolu, said Nigeria’s rapidly expanding fintech ecosystem, which he put at more than 400 startups, continues to face significant barriers arising from regulatory fragmentation, operational friction and weak trust.

He advocated a harmonised licensing framework involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), arguing that startups should not be forced to navigate disconnected regulatory processes as they grow.

Adegolu also proposed tiered capital requirements that would enable smaller technology companies to enter regulated markets without facing the same financial barriers as larger institutions.

He further called for incentives for data residency to encourage Nigerian businesses to retain more data within the country and convert it into domestic economic value.

For businesses, however, stakeholders cautioned that digital transformation should not become another expensive corporate buzzword.

Founder and CEO of Digital Jewels Limited, Adedoyin Odunfa, said companies must establish a clear business case before committing resources to technology.

She argued that organisations should first identify the problem they intend to solve, the opportunity they want to capture, their capacity to execute and the risks involved before deploying technology.

Odunfa also stressed the need for cybersecurity, risk management, compliance and artificial intelligence capabilities to be embedded into technology systems from the beginning rather than treated as afterthoughts.

Startups need more than funding

Managing Director of Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB) Africa, Ojoma Ochai, said Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem must move beyond the fixation on funding as the principal solution to startup failure.

She identified five critical requirements for taking an idea from conception to a sustainable business: a viable product, market access and distribution, a capable team, investment readiness and regulatory compliance.

According to her, startups need technical, commercial, organisational and sector-specific expertise, alongside sustainable business models and proper documentation, to attract investment and scale.

She stressed that these elements must be supported by adequate infrastructure, skills and collaboration across the ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) said building public confidence would be critical to the success of Nigeria’s digital economy.

Representing the National Commissioner/CEO of the NDPC, Vincent Olatunji, Ibukunoluwa Owa said the commission was seeking to balance innovation with stronger data protection compliance.

She disclosed that the commission had worked with innovators through an informal regulatory sandbox, helping businesses understand data protection obligations at an early stage and contributing to the development of safer digital products.

Owa proposed the creation of a whole-of-government regulatory sandbox through which businesses could address requirements imposed by multiple regulators in a more coordinated manner.

She said such an approach would reduce regulatory uncertainty while enabling the government to support innovation without compromising consumer protection.

Owa also identified transparency, accountability, effective redress mechanisms and public awareness as essential to establishing trust among citizens, businesses, government and regulators.

She highlighted the Commission’s Standard Rules to Address Grievance (SNAG), designed to allow individuals to report data protection violations and pursue remedies without necessarily requiring legal representation.

From digital adoption to digital production

The discussions point to a broader challenge for Nigeria: whether digitalisation will simply make the country a more efficient consumer of foreign technology or enable it to become a competitive producer of digital goods, services and intellectual property.

Stakeholders agreed that achieving the latter would require coordinated action on digital infrastructure, skills, regulation, data governance, cybersecurity, financing and access to domestic and international markets.

The consensus was that no single government agency or private-sector intervention can deliver the transformation alone.

Rather, sustained collaboration between government, regulators, technology companies, investors, innovators and businesses will be required to build an ecosystem capable of turning Nigeria’s large market and youthful population into a source of globally competitive digital products and services.

The pre-summit dialogue forms part of the NESG’s wider stakeholder consultations ahead of NES#32, with the emerging digital economy agenda expected to feed into discussions on the reforms and investments required to raise productivity and accelerate sustainable economic growth.