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DWTC with its local reps: Pinnacle Consulting led by LohMirmand and Lagos State Government led by Governor Sanwo-Olu inside Lagos House, Marina, Lagos Island
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, this week in Nigeria’s commercial capital city of over 20 million people, hosted the management of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and KAOUN International, Dubai led by Ms. Trixie Loh Yi Shan LohMirmand.
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Lagos state is Nigeria’s biggest economy and accounts for more than 15% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). It tops the list of the best African cities for tech startups and is home to Big Techs including Oracle, Google, Facebook and Microsoft among others.
Inside the Lagos House, Marina, Sanwo-Olu described the meeting as a follow-up on a proposed partnership on technology exchange being developed by the state and the DWTC, organisers of GITEX GLOBAL, Dubai and GITEX Africa.
Sanwo-Olu would later tweet: “I received the management of the Dubai World Trade Centre and Kaoun International, organizers of GITEX, led by Ms. Trixtee Loh Yi Shan at the Government House in Marina today.”
Adding: “Their visit follows my recent trip to GITEX Morocco, where we showcased the Lagos Story and aimed to drive up FDI for our state.
“Building bridges and forging strong global partnerships is key to Lagos’ future success. The DWTC team’s visit holds immense significance as we explore areas of mutual collaboration in technology and other development sectors.”
Talks on Lagos’ digital transformation vision
“Our discussions centered around Lagos’ digital transformation vision and how we can leverage technology to propel growth.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu, a major speaker at the inaugural GITEX Africa that held 31 May to 2 June 2023 at Morocco as the continent’s largest tech conference and expo, said the event allowed Lagos state to share its economic roadmap including tech progress with a global audience.
According to him, GITEX Africa allowed Lagos state to reassure investors of “the state’s willingness to pursue Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the local technology ecosystem.”
Ranked as home to Africa’s top unicorns and major destination for global startup fund, Sanwo-Olu said Lagos remained an important technology hub in Africa ready to work with the Dubai based DWTC and KAOUN to host an international tech conference and expo to further nurture the expansion of the in-country innovation startups and tech entrepreneurs.
His words: “Lagos is an important economic destination in Africa, which is why we are excited to see all the conversations, which started over a year ago, being put together. I appreciate the team work. We are beginning to build something that will be global and something that will be interesting to our continent and the world. We are excited about where the conversation DWTC and its partner is leading to. We are hoping that, in the next couple of months, we could make a few big announcements. We could set on a trajectory where both Lagos State and your organisations can indeed help those in tech eco-space.
“Lagos has the biggest tech ecosystem in Africa and the State is home to entertainment, fashion, and music. We can infuse all of these into new technology to leapfrog discoveries in new music, fashion and everything the world wants to see. We have excellent team that will be in position to help realise these objectives with your organisations. We will do everything to ensure that Lagos is on global map where it can recreate modern technology with new techniques and discoveries to drive entertainment and music. In the collaboration, we also want to leverage technology to improve the Ease of Doing Business index.”
LohMirmand: DWTC ready to deepen, expand collaborations
LohMirmand assured the governor that the team’s visit to Lagos was to further strengthen the existing relationship with Nigeria dating over a decade at federal level through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and explore new areas of mutual collaboration with the Lagos Government, an important economic hub in Africa.
The DWTC team has an international mandate to support local innovators and tech enterprises through collaborations and so it will be glad to partner with the “Lagos’ digital transformation vision.”
Her words: “This is my first visit to Nigeria and this is coming on the background of a very interesting conversation with the Lagos State Government to discuss the great markets that we have. We are looking forward to exciting opportunities that we can build with the State of Lagos and the new administration in Nigeria. We are ready for collaboration, so that we can support and contribute to Nigeria’s digital transformation roadmap.”
The DWTC, KAOUN delegation included Vice President, Technology and Digital Cluster, Mr Bilal Al-Rais; President/CEO, Pinnacle International Consulting LLC. Mr Akande Ojo; Director, Pinnacle Global Business Services Ltd, Mr. Olusegun Oruame. Officials of Lagos State included Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs Ibilola Kasunmu.
