How Lagos State Intends To Reduce Internet Cost For Average Citizens- Tunbosun Alake
Over the years, Lagos state has become a hub for technological talents in Nigeria despite its fragile business climate. The Lagos State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Tunbosun Alake, has revealed that the Lagos State government intends to make the state more conducive for startups by providing technological infrastructure.
The minister revealed this at TechCabal’s Moonshot conference, which was held at the Eko Convention Centre on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
Alake disclosed that although developers believe the ecosystem hit gold without the government’s help, Lagos is still the epicentre of technology in Nigeria and one of the biggest funders of startups as the state focuses its funds on research and development across its universities.
“Lagos is not hostile to technology startups. I think the success of Lagos is down to its talents, but it’s no accident that if you are thinking of starting a company, Lagos is where you first think of because of the infrastructure, proximity to the market, talent pool and all of that,” he said.
As a part of the government’s long-term project to aid innovation and technology in the state, the minister revealed that the Sanwo Olu administration is driving one of the biggest infrastructure projects for the state with their fibro optic project – a technology that transmits information as light pulses along a glass or plastic fibre.
“We are trying to spread fibre across the state and not just government fibre, but how do we incentivize telecommunication companies to spread more infrastructure to their consumers? We are doing this by helping them reduce their cost of deployment so that the internet is more spread out and cheaper for citizens,” he added.
Aside from infrastructure, he revealed that the state government is also making sure that venture capitalists can offer funds to companies at a base layer with government interference.
The maiden edition of Moonshot brought together Africa’s tech ecosystem as leading personalities in the sphere shared insight into innovation that will drive the continent into a new age.
