By Henry Obetta

Cluster head for West Africa at Logitech, Mr. kayowa Ogunrinde has emphasised the need for Nigerian businesses to secure their data locally, especially as the world is becoming more of a global village stating that it is critical to national sovereignty.

Ogunrinde spoke on the sidelines of the CIO and C-Suite Conference and award Africa on Tuesday in Lagos where industry leaders technology executives and stakeholders discussed the need for African countries to strengthen control over their data, improve cyber security and develop local digital infrastructure.

Ogunrinde who was awarded at the event, emphasised the importance of national sovereignty in the globalisation era saying the country must take greater control of its data, infrastructure, systems and human resources to avoid becoming dependent on foreign powers.

He said: “As a country, even though we are part of a global village, we also have our identity, our own thing as a country. And both in data, people, systems, infrastructure, we must have our own stuff, otherwise, any country whose person, data and everything is in the hands of another country is at the mercy of that other country.

“And that’s one of the things this whole conference is about. How we our data, store our data, protect our data and decide how our data will be used. Which also falls in line with what we do in Logitech.

“We have a full Nigerian team, full Nigerian strategy. Our products are customised for the Nigerian environment such that we are our own people. And we determine the pathway we want to go and not necessarily rely on other people to show us the path forward.”

He said the conference’s focus on data localisation was timely, adding that the government, corporate organisations and institutions were increasingly prepared to support the process.

Ogunrinde stated that Logitech began its operations on 1st January, 2022 amidst covid challenges and economic challenges

He highlighted foreign exchange problems and inconsistent government policies as barriers faced amidst the country’s volatile environment.

He however noted that the company has been able manage the uncertainties.

“The most important thing is that in those uncertain situations is where we have higher profitability. Because every problem you solve provides an economic advantage for your brand.

“For us, they are not challenges. They are exciting adventures. But most important is that we do that with integrity. And with clear ethical values. And we try to ensure that that is well maintained”, he said.

Logitech is a global Swiss owned manufacturer of computer peripherals and software including mice, keyboards, webcams, headsets, and gaming gear.