he crucial role of collaboration in advancing Nigeria’s digital landscape was the central theme of a panel discussion at The Nigeria eGovernment Summit 2025. Industry leaders, speaking on the topic of “Digital Infrastructure, Energy, and Inclusive Access,” emphasized that public-private partnerships are not just an option but a necessity to address the nation’s pressing digital and energy challenges.
Dr. Krishnan Ranganath, Regional Executive West Africa at Africa Data Centres (ADC), who was a key member of the panel, highlighted the urgent need for a unified approach to overcome obstacles in the industry. “Can anyone fix this alone? It is an impossible task without broad collaboration,” he stated.
He stressed that partnerships, whether private-to-private or private-to-public, are viable paths forward, pointing to Nigeria’s existing issues with digital infrastructure, including the challenge of transmitting vast amounts of bandwidth from Lagos to the rest of the country.
“We have several terabytes of bandwidth landing in Lagos alone. But once we start moving to other states, the speed drops. We need to look at that long haul in a cost-effective way for internet service providers (ISPs) to thrive,” Dr Ranganath noted.
The panel, which included key industry figures like Biodun Omoniyi of VDT Communications, Tobi Durojaiye of Unconnected.org, and Oluwatimilehin Adelowo of T2 (formerly 9Mobile), echoed this sentiment. They called for a strategic approach that involves all levels of government, from federal, state to local, to ensure that digital access reaches Nigeria’s 774 local government areas. The goal, they said, is to ensure that even the most innovative eGovernment solutions are accessible to every citizen.
The discussion also delved into Nigeria’s persistent power challenges. They agreed that while digital solutions require consistent power, the industry must collaboratively explore and adopt alternative energy sources to ensure reliability.
Other panelists include Gbenga Adegbiji of Geniserve; Landon Eroumuona of Hafol Resources Limited; Tunji Alabi of Infratel Africa; Adesuwa Imasekha of TAI Corporation and Olayemi Abifarin of Telcroft Technologies.