Lagos State government is undertaking the construction of what will be the biggest technology cluster in West Africa.
The hub which is coming up in Yaba is part of the interventions in technology infrastructure to accommodate more startups in Nigeria’s economic capital.
The tech ecosystem is being developed by the state government in collaboration with Facebook and Google.
While touring two tech hubs in the state, including Venia Hub in Lekki and Impact Hub in Ikoyi and meeting scores of startups in the ecosystems for a roundtable discussion on expansion and funding opportunities and infrastructure development, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo- Olu said the Yaba Technology Cluster, called K.I.T.E, would be a free zone that would allow for growth and financing of innovative ideas.
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According to Sanwo-Olu, the hub would be populated by entrepreneurs in tech industry and Fintech space, adding that the ecosystem would also offer free labs for the use of startups to take their innovations to from ideation to the next level.
K. I.T. E. is an acronym for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
The governor described technology as “the new oil” for Lagos – Africa’s largest megacity – to exponentially generate wealth and jobs for its young population, while also leveraging it in raising the status of the state to attain fourth industrial revolution.
“Technology is the new oil and the basic element for the fourth industrial revolution globally. As a state with a massive population of young people, we need to play a major role in the development of technology, which is an enabler to leapfrog into rapid socio-economic growth. We take technology as an important deliverable in our government’s development agenda.
“For us to make lasting impact in the tech industry, we said to ourselves we needed to build the infrastructure to support the sector. We are building a tech campus on a 22,000 square meters land in Yaba, which we christen K. I.T. E. We are working with global brands in the tech space, such as Facebook and Google, to deliver this important technology hub.
“We are currently laying 3,000 kilometres metropolitan fibre optic cables across the state to drop reliable and fast internet connectivity in homes and workplaces. These are part of the infrastructure required as a backbone for the tech industry to flourish and empower our young people in the space to take their businesses and ideas to the level of stability.”
