Abolaji Adebayo 
Industry leaders across Nigeria’s telecommunications and financial technology sectors have issued a warning, stating that the region must urgently implement collaborative policies to stave off a looming “digital apartheid” that threatens to exclude millions and forfeit over a trillion dollars in potential GDP growth by 2035.
The urgent call to action was the central theme of a recent high-level forum in Lagos, where the dominant narrative shifted from digital opportunity to the immediate need for risk mitigation, framing strategic partnerships and inclusive policies as essential safeguards for the region’s economic stability.
The President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Tony Emoekpere, set an ambitious but cautious tone for the proceedings, highlighting the immense potential at stake.
“The next ten years will define West Africa’s place in the global digital economy. This is a frontier market with the potential of doubling its digital economy contribution to GDP within a decade,” Emoekpere stated.
This projection, which underscores a transformative opportunity adding hundreds of billions to regional GDP, was immediately tempered by a grave counterwarning from other stakeholders who painted a picture of an alternative, dystopian future.
The Vice President of FintechNGR and MD/CEO of CreditRegistry, Jameelah SharrieffAyedun, delivered the most poignant assessment, coining the term “digital apartheid” to describe the crisis.
She cautioned that without decisive action, the digital divide would deepen, creating a permanent underclass of “digital ghosts” – millions of Africans excluded from the formal economy and invisible to modern financial systems.
“Failure to act could turn Africa’s youthful population into a lost economic opportunity,” Sharrieff-Ayedun stated, emphasising that without inclusive access to data and credit through innovative means, the region’s much-touted demographic dividend could rapidly become a destabilising liability.
Echoing these concerns, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, identified the critical vulnerabilities in the nation’s digital backbone.
He acknowledged that telecoms infrastructure is the essential platform enabling banking, fintech, and essential services, but warned that its expansion is being stifled by a combination of physical and fiscal threats.
Adebayo pointed to vandalism, suffocating multiple taxation, and restrictive Right of Way challenges as existential issues that directly undermine efforts to bridge the digital divide.
On a positive note, he commended the Nigerian Federal Government’s ongoing tax reforms, which are set to reduce over 56 levies by January 2026, and urged other West African states to follow suit to “create enabling conditions for faster digital rollout.”
The call for regional policy harmony was further amplified by the Managing Director of Digital Bank Trade Lenda, Mr. Adewunmi Adesina, who pressed for governments to “harmonise digital policies across ECOWAS” to create a seamless and efficient regional market.
This sentiment was supported by practical demonstrations of how technology can drive inclusion.
Dr. Nnenna Achife of AfriGo Payment Financial Services Limited revealed how her company’s infrastructure, which features enhanced offline payment capabilities and local currency settlement, is already reducing costs and powering social intervention programmes, proving that scalable and affordable solutions are operational and ready for wider adoption.
However, the path to widespread adoption remains fraught with operational hurdles.
A panel session led by Mrs. Racheal Anorue and a fireside chat with Mr Chidi Ajuzie of WTES Project Limited highlighted pressing daily challenges, including rising USSD costs, persistently poor connectivity in rural and underserved areas, and significant security risks for mobile money agents.
These issues were identified as direct barriers preventing the full realisation of financial inclusion.
The consensus among the experts was that overcoming these obstacles requires a multipronged approach centred on stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors, extensive public sensitisation campaigns, and the deployment of technology-driven security measures to protect both infrastructure and end-users.
