By Juliet Umeh

Industry leaders, regulators, and enterprise executives will gather in Lagos for the Africa Data Sovereignty Conference, a major event set to address Africa’s fast-changing digital infrastructure landscape.

With the theme “Empowering Enterprises with Secure, In-Country Infrastructure,” the conference, convened by Olla Systems in partnership with Africa Hyperscalers, will spotlight data localization, infrastructure readiness, and the next phase of digital trust as Africa advances toward a cloud-first future.

Speaking ahead of the summit, Chief Executive Officer of Olla Systems, Olusola Adenuga, said the event is expected to attract more than 300 decision-makers from enterprise organizations, high-growth startups, and government institutions.

Adenuga said: “This forum comes at a pivotal moment, as countries including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ghana push data domiciliation mandates that require regulated institutions to store and process information within their national borders.

“Data sovereignty is not just about where data resides; it is also about who controls it, who benefits from it, and how it powers national development.

“Other regions retain over 80 percent of their data onshore. Africa must break its digital dependence and build sovereign infrastructure that keeps our data, value, and opportunity within the continent,” she added.

Regulators across the continent, such as Nigeria’s Central Bank, CBN, and the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, have in recent years issued firm directives reinforcing the need for data sovereignty. Financial institutions, telecom operators, and public agencies are under pressure to migrate from global cloud platforms to locally compliant alternatives.

Adenuga, however, acknowledged the challenges enterprises face in making the transition. “Legacy vendor relationships, downtime fears, and limited awareness of local alternatives have slowed progress,” he explained. “This conference is designed to change that narrative by showcasing successful migrations, clarifying policy, and demystifying the technology powering sovereign infrastructure.”

She stated that the event will feature keynote addresses and panel sessions as confirmed speakers include Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General of NITDA; Arnold Kavaarpuo, Executive Director, Data Protection Commission, Ghana; Philemon Lwanyaga, Personal Data Protection Office, Uganda; Ibukun Owa, Head, Regulations, NDPC; Dr. Ayotunde Coker, CEO, Open Access Data Centres; and Lars Johannisson, CEO, Rack Centre, among others.