GITEX Nigeria opened its Lagos leg this week with artificial intelligence, fintech and digital infrastructure at the centre of the programme, drawing founders, policymakers, enterprise buyers and investors to West Africa's largest technology gathering.

The show ran from 31 August to 3 September across Lagos and Abuja, covering AI, cloud and connected devices alongside the financial technology sector that has defined Nigeria's tech reputation abroad.

A different conversation

What was notable was less what was announced than what was discussed. For most of the last decade, Nigerian tech events were organised around funding rounds and valuations. This one was organised around plumbing.

Sessions returned repeatedly to infrastructure, regulation, interoperability and the unglamorous question of how digital finance actually supports the wider economy. That reflects the market's own position: funding conditions are tighter than they were in 2021, regulatory scrutiny is heavier, and customer trust has taken knocks.

The incumbents

Nigeria remains Africa's fintech leader on volume and depth, with Flutterwave, Paystack, Interswitch, Moniepoint, PalmPay, Paga, OPay and Kuda all operating at scale.

Flutterwave has been the most active this year, acquiring the open banking provider Mono in January and securing a Central Bank microfinance licence in April — a move that takes it further into regulated territory than a payments processor usually goes.

The direction of travel across the sector is towards licences, compliance functions and infrastructure ownership. It is slower than the growth era, and considerably harder to raise money against.

Reporting by TechBooky. This summary was written by the TalkNaijaMedia desk.