We’re Working To Make Lagos A Significant IT Hub In Africa – Sanwo-Olu

LAGOS – Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Gover­nor has said that several efforts have been put in place by his ad­ministration in making Lagos a significant IT Hub in Africa.

Sanwo-Olu who was repre­sented by Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat his Deputy stated this on Thursday while speaking at the groundbreaking of the Rack Centre 12MW IT Power Capacity Data Centre Facility in Oregun.

He urged the companies with foreign IT workloads and services to relocate their as­sets locally thereby strength­ening Lagos’ position in the global IT market

He stressed that the state government has embarked on a series of initiatives and pro­grammes that will make the state one of the most digitized cities in Africa.

“From our 3000km metro­politan fibre optic project to our Electronic Geographic Information System and our Smart city initiatives and implementations, Lagos is poised to be a significant IT hub for the region and the groundbreaking is lock-step and in line with the future outlook of Lagos.

“Today’s groundbreaking is a testament to the trust and faith investors and the wider Lagos IT market have in this company. A significant expan­sion like this presents the op­portunity not just for growth in services, but also allows for a pushing of the technology envelope.

Sanwo-Olu said that the company’s neutral status and local interconnect ambitions would further strengthen La­gos’ position as a digital eco­nomic centre.

He said in 2021, invest­ments in data centre infra­structure domiciled in Lagos grew by over a billion dollars, a development attributed to the enabling environment and captive market Lagos provides.

He expressed optimism that demand for future Rack centre services is already available within the market from both a private and public sector perspective.

The Governor added that increasing IT infrastructure utilization caused by the proliferation of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, Block­chain, Software Defined Net­works, Smart City and so on aptly demonstrates the fact that the State Government is at an inflection point in the way they conduct business.