The Tech Innovation Awards (TIA) 2025 honoured top leaders across Africa’s technology ecosystem, recognizing organizations and individuals that drove digital transformation, technological excellence and enterprise innovation across the continent. at the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Organized by InstinctWave Group in partnership with Digital Economy Magazine, the 9th TIA highs Nigeria’s pivotal role as a hub for technological advancement, inviting submissions from organizations, individuals, teams, and government entities with operations in Africa.
The awards highlight the achievements of companies pioneering advancements in fintech, cloud infrastructure, telecommunications, energy, digital public services, and artificial intelligence.
CEO, InstinctWave & Convener of TIA, Reacts
Akin Naphtal, Chief Executive Officer of InstinctWave and Group Publisher of Digital Economy Magazine, has reaffirmed the Tech Innovation Awards (TIA) as one of Africa’s most dynamic platforms for recognizing excellence across the continent’s fast-evolving technology landscape.
Speaking at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, Naphtal said:
“It is truly a pleasure to gather here at the iconic Oriental Hotel in Lagos, the heartbeat of Africa’s digital economy, to celebrate the pioneers, creators, and changemakers who are shaping the future of technology on the continent.
Tonight, we celebrate not only innovation but courage, digital excellence, and the visionaries whose ideas are transforming how we live, work, transact, and connect.
From its inception, the Tech Innovation Awards were designed to honour excellence across the broad spectrum of the technology ecosystem. What makes this platform unique is its versatility,its ability to adapt, expand, and reflect the rapid pace of technological change happening around us.”
Naphtal also revealed that the 2025 edition holds special significance for InstinctWave, as the organisation marks 20 years of shaping platforms that spotlight excellence across Africa. Over the past two decades, InstinctWave has expanded its influence, taking its conferences and award frameworks beyond Nigeria to Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and other markets, strengthening its identity as a truly Pan-African knowledge and events powerhouse.
“This year also carries special meaning for us at InstinctWave.We celebrate two decades of shaping platforms that spotlight excellence across Africa.In these two decades, we have expanded, with our conferences and award schemes going beyond borders,from Ghana to Kenya, and South Africa,building a truly Pan-African footprint that continues to grow.”
Industry Leaders Dominate Organisational Award Categories
Among the standout winners, Opay emerged as Fintech Company of the Year and also clinched Best Fintech in Cybersecurity, underscoring its strong leadership in digital financial services. Onafriq was recognised as both Payment Infrastructure Innovator of the Year and Best Cross-Border Payments Provider, affirming its strategic role in powering Africa’s payments interoperability.
In cloud and enterprise technology, CloudPlexo secured the Cloud Team of the Year and the Cloud Infrastructure Innovation Award, while Zoho earned Innovative Enterprise Software Provider of the Year. Digital Realty swept two categories, Datacentre Provider of the Year and Datacentre Team of the Year, reflecting excellence in data infrastructure capacity and operational leadership.
Public sector innovation was spotlighted with NASENI winning Innovative Public Sector Agency of the Year, while Lagos Bus Services Limited dominated mobility categories as Public Transportation Innovation Company of the Year. Additional wins across sectors include IHS for Renewable Energy & Green Site Initiative and the Telecom Tower Infrastructure Leadership Award, Africmed Hospital Gambia for Innovative Healthcare Provider of the Year, Ikeja Electric for Best Use of Technology in Power & Energy, and uLesson as EdTech Company of the Year.
The awards also celebrated emerging leaders in AI and tech-driven business solutions, with Reliance Infosystem named AI Frontier Enabler Company of the Year, Periculum recognised as AI-Driven Credit Innovation Company of the Year, and MediaFuse honoured for Best Use of AI in Advertising & Media.
Individual Trailblazers Recognised for Exceptional Leadership
Omotayo Ogunlade, Group CTO of Onafriq, bagged Technology Person of the Year, while Lanre Bamisebi of Access Holdings, named Digital Transformation Leader of the Year for steering one of Africa’s largest financial groups into a new era of platform banking. Wema Bank’s Olusegun Adeniyi and ProvidusBank’s Olubukola Ajetunmobi claimed Chief Digital Officer and CIO of the Year ,respectively, proof that bold digital vision now sits at the very heart of African banking.
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From the towers of telecommunications, IHS’s Dapo Otunla earned Telecom Corporate Services Leader of the Year, while MTN Nigeria’s Karl Toriola, the quiet colossus behind the continent’s largest mobile network, walked away with the coveted Digital Economy Man of the Year title.
In the crucible where artificial intelligence meets human need, Periculum founder Michael Collins was honoured as AI Leader in Financial Services, and Africmed’s Dr. Omar Jagne received the Outstanding Healthcare Leadership Award for deploying technology that is literally saving lives across West Africa.
Public-sector trailblazers were celebrated with equal fervour: NASENI’s Khalil Suleiman Halilu was named Public Sector Tech CEO of the Year for turning a once-sleepy agency into Africa’s emerging industrial-technology powerhouse, while Lagos Bus Services CEO Idowu Oguntona took home Public Sector Mobility Innovation Leader of the Year for reimagining urban transport in Africa’s most chaotic megacity.
Power, data, and payments completed the constellation. Ikeja Electric’s Folake Soetan became Technology-Driven CEO of the Year for proving that utilities can be smart, responsive, and profitable; Digital Realty Nigeria’s Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani was hailed Datacentre Trailblazer of the Year; Africa Data Centres’ Dr. Krishnan Ranganath claimed Technology Executive of the Year; Mastercard’s Dr. Folasade Femi-Lawal walked away as FinTech Trailblazer of the Year; and Reliance Infosystems’ Olayemi Popoola earned Visionary Leadership in Enterprise Growth.
