The Chief Information Officer of MTN Nigeria, Shoyinka Shodunke, has been honoured with the Pan-African Technology Leader of the Year Award in recognition of his contributions to the growth of Africa’s technology ecosystem and his record of strategic leadership.
The award was presented after his keynote address titled “The Digital Economy Forecast for Africa” at the Tech Revolution Africa Conference held on Friday in Lagos, where he urged African leaders, innovators and policymakers to embrace bold and disruptive leadership to harness the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
In his address, Shodunke noted that Africa had historically played marginal roles in previous industrial revolutions — whether as a supplier of raw materials, a late entrant, or largely a consumer of finished innovations. He argued that the current digital shift presents a different trajectory for the continent.
According to him, the fourth revolution offers Africa a rare opportunity not only to participate but to lead, as the key inputs-data, cloud infrastructure and talent, are now widely accessible and less dependent on heavy capital investment.
“Revolutions punish hesitation,” he cautioned, urging African decision-makers to act decisively rather than wait for ideal conditions.
Drawing parallels with earlier industrial transitions, Shodunke maintained that meaningful transformation is driven by leadership willing to challenge comfort zones, disrupt legacy systems and rethink existing revenue models.
He highlighted MTN’s own evolution from a traditional connectivity provider into a digital platform company, with strategic investments in cloud services, fintech and artificial intelligence. He added that the future of the digital economy would favour organisations that build intelligence-driven and scalable platforms beyond basic connectivity and data services.
Speaking earlier at the conference, the Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Olatunbosun Alake, stressed the need for homegrown solutions and sustained investment in research and development.
Alake pointed to Lagos State’s initiatives in startup funding, innovation hubs and university-backed research, noting that African challenges can be addressed using local data, materials and talent, while producing solutions that are globally competitive.
Other speakers echoed the call for strategic leadership and forward-looking policies, arguing that for technology to deliver meaningful impact on the continent, it must be designed for Africa and built by Africans. They warned against overreliance on imported models that fail to reflect local realities, data environments and development priorities.
MTN served as the headline sponsor of the conference, reinforcing its role as a backbone of African connectivity. The event also attracted participation from global technology firm Huawei, alongside LigaData, CoralPay, Red Hat, Vennote Technologies and Infonomics.
