Lagos govt building ecosystem where ideas become inventions — Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor, Babjide Sanwo-Olu, has stated that the state government is building an ecosystem where ideas become inventions, startups scale into global businesses, and technology solves Africa’s most pressing challenges.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, stated this on Thursday while speaking at the ’10th edition of Lagos Startup Week’, themed: ‘Disrupting the Next Decade’, held at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos

He said the state was poised to lead Africa’s digital revolution, driving up to 10 times GDP growth through innovation, commercialisation, industry expansion, and increased tax revenues

“As we look ahead, we are poised to lead Africa’s digital revolution, driving up to 10 times GDP growth through innovation, commercialisation, industry expansion, and increased tax revenues.

“We are building an ecosystem where ideas become inventions, startups scale into global businesses, and technology solves Africa’s most pressing challenges,” he said.

The governor called on all stakeholders, including government, private sector, academia, and civil society to join hands with the state government in this transformative journey aimed at ensuring that Lagos State remain the powerhouse of African innovation, lighting the path for the continent’s prosperity and global competitiveness in the next decade and beyond.

Besides, he said the government was digitising services to improve transparency and efficiency, alongside establishing a cybersecurity operations centre and capacity-building programs to strengthen local IT talent and cyber resilience.

Governor Sanwo-Olu emphasised that over the past decade, Lagos had witnessed a remarkable transformation, noting that from humble beginnings, startups had grown into global players, among which, five unicorns had emerged, namely: Interswitch, Flutterwave, Jumia, OPay, and Moniepoint – calling Lagos home.

According to him, these successes underscore the fertile ground Lagos provides for technological entrepreneurship and innovation.

The governor stressed that Lagos is not just Nigeria’s commercial capital, but is rapidly becoming the innovation heartbeat of Africa, being home to over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s innovation funding, saying this is a testament to his administration’s role as the continent’s leading tech and startup hub.

“This is no accident but the result of deliberate, strategic investments and policies designed to foster a vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable innovation ecosystem,” he said.

Governor Sanwo-Olu further described the landmark event as not just a celebration of a decade of innovation but a bold declaration of Lagos’s unwavering commitment to shaping the future of African entrepreneurship and technological advancement.

The Consulate-General of the Netherlands in Lagos, Nigeria, Michel Deelen, in his good will message, reiterated that Nigerians were known for their vibrant, friendly energy, which is expressed through diverse creative and disruptive expressions in technology, innovation, research and science, as well as in the film and the fashion industry, adding that this can be seen everywhere.

“Lagos has a youthful population poised to become a global economic powerhouse, and the entrepreneurial spirit of young people is a testament to its potential.

“Lagos is actually a fintech unicorn headquarters in Africa, with four out of nine unicorns domiciled in Lagos. I was going through the annual Financial Times fastest growing companies on the African continent, which was recently published again, and the top ten, you see, already four of them from Nigeria,” he stated.

Founder of Prime Startups, Mr. Olumide Olayinka, in his opening remark, stated that for the past 10 years, Lagos Startup Week had had a goal to cultivate Lagos as that powerhouse for innovation in Africa, saying that the organisation had seen tremendous support from the state government and other partners over time.

He noted that the journey for the next decade, like the theme implies, “Disrupting the Next Decade,” was for the organisation to reflect on what had happened in the past 10 years, “what is currently happening, and what the future holds.”

Olayinka added that the organisation’s role as builders within the ecosystem had evolved, not just nurturing early-stage startups, but now supporting even those that were super early at the growth stage to help them in terms of product launches and equally also going to market.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Emmanuel Efe Emefienim, who spoke through the bank’s Head, Corporate Development, Mr. Shina Atilola, expressed excitement for how the startup had grown to become what it is now, saying that they had achieved great strides.

“Over the past 10 years of the startup, we talked about digital transformation, but that now is the time for data transformation and we are looking forward to seeing that startup that will disrupt the data space, and one that will take all the data opportunities in Nigeria, transform it beyond AI, and make a positive impact.

He further charged them to make Nigeria the greatest country in the world, economically, in terms of security, and manpower, among others.

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