Business
‘Capacity to support digital services, AI, others low’
An information communication technology expert has identified lack of capacity as one of the major obstacles to the realisation of the digital economy ambition of the Federal Government, stressing the need for the development of the requisite talent in the industry, former Group Managing Director, Telnet Nigeria, Dr. Nadu Denloye, said more builders are needed to close the yawning capacity gaps in the industry.
Speaking on: ‘Africa’s Digital Infrastructure Ecosystem Needs More Builders’ in a keynote during webinar to mark International Women’s Day organised by Africa Hyperscalers with Give to Gain: Building Africa’s Digital Infrastructure Together as focus, Dr Denloye said data centres are springing up while cloud platforms are becoming central to economic activity, adding that for a continent with about 1.4billion people, the greatest challenge is capacity.
“Today, Africa stands at another important moment. Demand for connectivity, cloud infrastructure, data centers, and enterprise digital services is rising rapidly across the continent. Fiber networks are expanding.
“Data centers are being built. Cloud platforms are increasingly central to economic activity. Yet for a continent of nearly 1.4 billion people, the capacity required to support digital services, artificial intelligence, financial systems, and government platforms remains far below what will ultimately be needed.
“Closing this gap will require building across multiple layers—connectivity, compute capacity, interconnection, energy systems, and talent. But it will also require something equally important: more builders. And that includes more women builders.”
She said when she began her career, women in telecommunications and technology leadership were extremely rare.
“Today we are seeing more women entering engineering, entrepreneurship, digital infrastructure, and technology leadership. That progress is encouraging. But it is still not enough. And this is not simply a diversity issue. It is an ecosystem issue.
“Africa cannot close its digital infrastructure gap if half of its potential talent remains underrepresented in the industries responsible for building that infrastructure.
“We need more women designing networks. More women building and leading technology companies.
“More women are investing in digital infrastructure. More women are shaping the policies that guide digital markets. Equally important, we need leaders—both men and women—who are intentional about opening doors for the next generation. Throughout my professional journey, one of the most rewarding experiences has been mentoring younger professionals and watching them grow into leaders in their own right.
“That is how ecosystems expand; those who come first create pathways for those who follow.
“This is where the theme” Give to Gain” becomes especially powerful.
“When experienced leaders share knowledge, invest in people, and build institutions that outlast them, the entire ecosystem becomes stronger,” she said.
According to Dr Denloye, the next phase of Africa’s digital transformation will require exactly this kind of collective effort. “We must close the inclusion gap if we are to close the infrastructure gap.
Africa’s digital future will not be built by technology alone. It will be built by communities of builders—entrepreneurs, engineers, investors, policymakers, and leaders—working together to strengthen the
systems that power our digital economy. And the more inclusive that community of builders becomes, the stronger Africa’s digital infrastructure ecosystem will be,” she added.
“When we talk about digital infrastructure in Africa today, the focus is often on hard technology—fiber networks, data centers, cloud platforms, connectivity systems, and increasingly artificial intelligence.
“But infrastructure is never only about technology. It is also about people, values, institutions, and most importantly, builders. Builders who invest their time, talent, and conviction in shaping systems that will support economies and societies for decades to come,” she said.
According to her, when she and others started Telnet Nigeria in the mid ‘80s, the digital infrastructure of today simply did not exist.
“There was no internet ecosystem as we know it today. Telecommunications infrastructure was limited, expensive, and highly centralized. What we now call the digital economy was still largely an idea.
“We were working at the very early stages of what would later become Nigeria’s digital services sector.
“Building a technology-driven company in that environment required persistence and conviction. There were very few examples to follow—and certainly very few women leading companies in the sector.
“As co-founder and later Group Managing Director of Telnet Nigeria, my role also brought visibility to women in technology leadership at a time when very few women occupied such positions in the sector.
“But the real focus was not visibility—it was building institutions and capabilities that could support Nigeria’s emerging digital economy.
“Looking back, that experience reinforced an important truth. What we now call digital transformation has not happened by accident. It has been—and will continue to be—built on infrastructure, institutions, and people.
“It is built by entrepreneurs willing to take risks, by engineers who design networks, by investors who commit capital to long-term infrastructure, and by policymakers who create enabling frameworks for innovation,” she said.
She commended Africa Hyperscalers for convening the conversation and for bringing together leaders across data centers, cloud platforms, connectivity, and policy to examine how collaboration can strengthen the continent’s digital infrastructure.
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