Lagos hosts tech infrastructure stakeholders’ conference
Today in Lagos, Nigeria, stakeholders from public utilities, private technology firms and the Lagos State Infrastructure, Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA) will host a conference on the future of technological infrastructure in Africa’s largest city.
Millions of people have moved to Lagos in search of economic opportunity, and the city is expected to grow by another 6 million by the end of the decade. Increased urbanization will provide new opportunities in tech, transportation, and education, and in anticipation of this demographic shift the government of Lagos is looking to grow sustainably with a unified plan to integrate technology, public policy, and urban planning.
Since 2019, the Government of Lagos State and LASIMRA have installed 3000km of broadband infrastructure as the state tries to incubate West Africa’s largest tech hub. In spite of this progress, officials fear that project timelines may face delays as corruption in the public utilities space has increased during Nigeria’s pandemic restrictions.
Today’s conference is designed to identify challenges encountered in LASIMRA’s smart city initiative thus far, and what steps should be taken to finance a full-scale integration of technology and public policy over the next several years.
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