By Esther Onyegbula

More than 5,000 participants, including government officials, business executives, regulators, investors and technology innovators, converged on Lagos for the third edition of the Bluechip Data and AI Summit, where stakeholders examined how artificial intelligence can accelerate Africa’s economic transformation while addressing regulatory, infrastructure and talent challenges.

The summit, hosted by Bluechip Technologies Limited at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, was themed “The Future, Now: AI-Driven Transformation for Africa” and attracted over 4,000 physical attendees and more than 1,000 virtual participants.

Organisers described the event as one of Africa’s largest gatherings focused on data, artificial intelligence and digital transformation, bringing together more than 30 speakers from key sectors including banking, telecommunications, energy, financial services, government and venture capital.

A major highlight of the summit was the unveiling of Bluechip Technologies’ new AI-Native Enterprise Ecosystem and the launch of YarnGPT, an African-built generative AI platform designed to support local languages and accents.
Speaking during the unveiling, Bluechip Technologies Ltd Managing Director and Co-Founder, Kazeem Tewogbade, said the company’s latest innovations reflected its transition from a technology integration firm to a product-driven AI company.

According to him, the AI-Native Enterprise Ecosystem is built around three integrated layers comprising a data ecosystem for enterprise-scale data management and intelligence, a business operations ecosystem focused on automation, compliance and operational efficiency, and an enterprise intelligence fabric designed to embed predictive intelligence and automation into business decision-making.
Tewogbade also introduced YarnGPT, describing it as a proprietary text-to-speech generative AI platform developed specifically for African realities.

“Most AI models were built to understand the world. YarnGPT was built to understand our voices, our languages, our accents and our stories,” he said.
The platform currently supports English, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa languages, with plans underway to expand into additional African languages.

The summit opened with keynote addresses from government and international AI leaders, setting the tone for discussions around policy, innovation and responsible adoption of emerging technologies.
Representing the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Dr.

Aristotle Onumo delivered the government keynote address, outlining Nigeria’s emerging artificial intelligence policy framework, digital transformation agenda and regulatory direction for AI adoption.
International AI strategist and Founder/CEO of xcelerateiq.com, Rosanne Werner, delivered the global keynote, highlighting strategies for translating AI ambitions into measurable business outcomes while expressing confidence in Nigeria’s growing influence within Africa’s AI ecosystem.

The summit featured six major panel sessions focusing on critical issues shaping the future of AI across the continent.

Discussions examined AI adoption in banking and fintech, infrastructure requirements for scaling AI systems, regulatory and governance frameworks, workforce development, women’s leadership in innovation, and the application of AI across energy and industrial sectors.
Participants also explored the challenges of balancing innovation with regulation, while identifying opportunities for investment and talent development.

A fireside conversation featuring investor Olumide Soyombo and venture capital leader Kola Aina focused on startup growth, investment opportunities and the future of AI financing across Africa.
Among the notable speakers were representatives from Access Holdings Plc, First Bank of Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc, MTN Nigeria, Nigeria LNG Limited, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

Other participating institutions included KPMG, TVC News, Capital Club Lagos and the American Business Council Nigeria.
The summit also featured the live grand finale of the DSN x BCT LLM Agent Challenge, a national AI hackathon organised in partnership with Data Science Nigeria, with contestants competing for a total prize pool of N4 million.
Bluechip Technologies said the summit was supported by a network of global technology partners, including Oracle, Amazon Web Services, Dell Technologies, Huawei, Salesforce, WSO2 and Data Science Nigeria.

Reflecting on the growth of the summit since its inception, Tewogbade said the platform was created to provide Africa with a world-class forum for meaningful conversations around artificial intelligence.

“The Bluechip Data and AI Summit was founded on the belief that Africa deserves a world-class platform for serious AI conversations. Three editions later, the caliber of leaders gathered here confirms what we have always believed, Africa is not participating from the sidelines. We are actively shaping the future of this conversation,” he said.

Also speaking, Bluechip Technologies Co-Founder, Olumide Soyombo, said conversations around AI on the continent had evolved beyond questions of relevance to issues of implementation and sustainability.

“What stands out today is how the conversation has evolved. We are no longer debating whether AI matters to Africa. The focus has shifted to how we build, regulate, fund and scale AI responsibly for long-term impact,” Soyombo said.

Stakeholders at the summit agreed that while artificial intelligence presents significant opportunities for economic growth, productivity and innovation, collaboration between governments, regulators, investors and private-sector players will be critical to ensuring Africa fully harnesses its transformative potential.