L-R, Oluwakayode Adigun, Chairman, Edniesal Consulting and Chairman, Project Team, The CIO & C-Suite Awards Africa, Adewale Laseinde, Member, BOT, The CIO Club Africa, Abiola Laseinde, Convener, The CIO & C-Suite Conference and Awards Africa, Olusegun Enitan Dada, President, Executive Leadership Council, The CIO & C-Suite Club Africa
Leading voices at the Great CIO and C-Suite Project Africa have called for stronger collaboration, smarter infrastructure, and bolder policies to support the continent’s accelerating digital tax reforms and AI-driven future.
Nigeria’s technology and governance community gathered in Lagos for the event, where the Executive Chairman of the Lagos Internal Revenue Service, Ayodele Subair, said the future of fiscal policy in Africa must be driven by technology, data, and robust governance frameworks, as the continent navigates the challenges of a rapidly evolving digital economy.
He outlined how the rise of e-commerce, fintech, virtual assets, mobile payments, and cross-border digital services have transformed traditional taxation models and forced governments to rethink their policy and administrative structures.
According to him, the debate for regulators is no longer about whether to digitise operations but about how to govern effectively in a digital-first world where economic value is increasingly created and exchanged online.
While emphasising the power of technology, he cautioned that digital tools alone cannot redefine fiscal policy.
“The digital tax shift requires a governance model that balances innovation with inclusion, ensuring that as we expand the tax net, we do not widen the digital divide,” he said.
Also speaking, the convener of the Great CIO and C-Suite Project Africa, Abiola Laseinde, described the event as a two-phase engagement: a conference on the digital tax shift and an awards ceremony celebrating outstanding digital transformation leaders across the continent.
She explained that the digital tax session was designed to help professionals “learn, relearn, unlearn, and get perspective” on navigating new tax structures through the lens of technology.
With many African governments adopting technology-driven reforms, she emphasised the importance of understanding the evolving landscape.
According to her, Nigeria is already emerging as a continental tech hub, home to four of Africa’s five biggest unicorns.
She credited this progress to proactive efforts across both federal and subnational levels.
However, she warned that the country still lacks the infrastructure needed to fully benefit from emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Using the analogy of a village awaiting electricity without poles or transformers, she stressed the need for deliberate planning.
“The infrastructure should be available for AI to be deployed seamlessly. “We need to begin to build structures that will enable us to really leverage and scale up technology. We’re not yet there, but we’re getting there,” she said.
