By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

Mr. Johnson Agogbua, Founder and CEO of pan-African digital infrastructure company Kasi Cloud, has called on the Nigerian government to reposition the country for greater relevance in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem in Africa. He emphasized the need to build locally owned AI infrastructure to move Nigeria beyond being a mere consumer of foreign technologies.

Agogbua made the remarks as a panelist at the Minister–Regulator & Telecom Executives Forum, during an interactive session with the National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr. Vincent Olatunji. The discussion focused on data governance, cybersecurity, compliance, and user protection, all key pillars for developing a trusted and globally competitive digital economy.

“It’s time for us to be bold,” Agogbua said. “We are behind in digital infrastructure and the transition to a digital economy. We must build our own AI capacity. If we do not create our own AI factory, we will continue buying technology and remain mere consumers.”

He highlighted Nigeria’s unique opportunity to become an AI-first country, citing the potential to serve a market population of over 500 million people in Africa. “When people hear that we (Kasi) are building to 100-megawatt capacity, they are amazed. But that is actually too small. To meet Africa’s challenges, multiple facilities of this scale are needed,” he noted.

While praising the government’s $2 billion fibre-infrastructure initiative, aimed at deploying 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable and expanding digital learning, Agogbua urged that this moonshot be paired with a vision for Nigeria to become Africa’s AI hub.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, who was present at the forum, affirmed that Nigeria is actively working to reposition itself in the AI space. He cited the country’s 100% AI readiness rating on vision by Oxford University and highlighted initiatives such as the AI Collective and AI Trust, committees designed to guide AI development and safeguard Nigeria’s technological future.

“Government alone cannot achieve this,” Dr. Tijani said, emphasizing collaboration with industry leaders to accelerate growth in AI and digital infrastructure.

Later, Agogbua was honoured with the Digital Luminary Award (Gold Category) at the maiden Telecoms Excellence Awards Night 2025, organized by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON). The award recognizes organisations that have significantly advanced Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.

Receiving the award, Agogbua said: “We are building hyperscale data centers for AI and cloud. This will accelerate interconnection, communications applications, and data residency in Nigeria. We see our role not just as builders of facilities but as enablers of Africa’s long-term digital resilience and competitiveness.”

The event, themed “Driving Nigeria’s Digital Economy: Policy, Regulation, and Industry Synergy,” was attended by key government officials, regulators, telecom and technology CEOs, and representatives of development partners, signaling a unified drive toward Nigeria’s leadership in Africa’s AI and digital economy future.