Stakeholders in Nigeria’s technology sector have called for greater investment in local talent, intelligence and innovation to speed up the country’s digital transformation and reduce dependence on imported technology.
The call was made at the Huawei Nigeria AI and Cloud Summit 2026, held on Thursday, with the theme, “Built Local, Built Intelligent.”
Speaking at the summit, the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, who was represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Tax and Revenue, Mr Abdulkabir Opeyemi, said Nigeria’s technological development must increasingly focus on locally created solutions capable of addressing the country’s specific challenges.
Hamzat noted that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and cloud computing made it necessary for Nigeria to move beyond being a consumer of technology and begin playing a stronger role as a technology producer.
He stressed, however, that developing local technological capacity did not mean shutting Nigeria off from the global technology community. Rather, he said the country should continue to collaborate with international partners while ensuring that Nigerians benefit directly from technological advancement.
According to him, artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure have the potential to transform critical sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, public administration and national security, while also creating employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
The Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Nigeria, Austin You, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s digital development. He said Huawei had trained more than 100,000 Nigerians and established over 250 ICT academies as part of efforts to expand the country’s technology talent pool.
You said Nigeria’s large population, expanding digital market, infrastructure and growing pool of skilled young people placed the country in a strong position to become a major force in Africa’s artificial intelligence development.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Huawei Cloud Nigeria, Roc Bai, introduced the Huawei Nigeria Agentic Cloud, describing it as a platform designed to support Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and data protection objectives.
Bai explained that the platform would promote local data residency by ensuring that data is hosted, processed and governed within Nigeria.
He identified the democratisation of AI, data localisation, trust and security as some of the major priorities of Huawei Cloud’s strategy for the Nigerian market.
The summit also featured demonstrations of AI-powered solutions in areas such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence and AI agents, highlighting the growing importance of technology designed around Nigeria’s local needs and challenges.
