Africa Data Sovereignty Tops Agenda at Lagos Summit
Top ICT leaders, regulators, and enterprise executives will converge in Lagos on 18 September 2025 for a high-level dialogue on Africa’s data sovereignty, amid growing calls for stronger localisation policies across the continent.
The summit, convened by cloud and IT infrastructure provider Olla Systems in partnership with Africa Hyperscalers, is expected to draw over 300 decision-makers from enterprises, startups, and government institutions.
The discussions will focus on data localisation, infrastructure readiness, and the next frontier of digital trust as more African nations, including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, advance policies requiring regulated entities to host and process data within national borders.
Chief executive officer of Olla Systems and conference convener, Olusola Adenuga, said: “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. Africa must break its digital dependence and build sovereign infrastructure that keeps our data, value, and opportunity within the continent.”
Regulators such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have already issued directives compelling financial institutions, telecom operators, and public sector agencies to migrate their workloads from global clouds to compliant local platforms.
Themed “Empowering Enterprises with Secure, In-Country Infrastructure”, the summit will showcase successful migrations, clarify evolving policies, and demystify the technologies enabling sovereign infrastructure.
Confirmed speakers include Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, NITDA; Arnold Kavaarpuo, Executive Director, Data Protection Commission, Ghana; Philemon Lwanyaga, Personal Data Protection Office, Uganda; Dr. Ayotunde Coker, CEO, Open Access Data Centres; Lars Johannisson, CEO, Rack Centre; Ibukun Owa, Head of Regulations, Nigeria Data Protection Commission; and Olusola Adenuga, CEO, Olla Systems.
