Salah: African Markets Are Full of Talent and Potential to Scale Businesses

During a recent visit to Nigeria, Khaled Salah, AVEVA’s Vice President responsible for African markets, highlighted the resilience and growth potential of African economies, stressing the importance of harnessing the right data. The following excerpts are presented by Emma Okonji.

As an industrial software company, how will AVEVA use existing market data to support business growth in Nigeria and Africa?

AVEVA is an industrial software firm that helps customers turn their data into operational efficiency by contextualising it and making it actionable. Since January, AVEVA decided to split the legacy Middle East and Africa market into two separate entities: the Middle East alone and Africa alone.

Since taking the lead on the African market in January, I have concentrated on six key countries. In the north are Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria; in the south are Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. I chose these markets because they offer abundant talent, innovation, resilience, and maturity, which can be leveraged to help each country achieve its goals.

You had the AVEVA’s Day in Nigeria, where you brought partners and customers together. What is AVEVA’s interest in Nigeria and what has been the milestone so far?

Nigeria is the epicentre of digital transformation in Africa for several reasons. First, its youthful population—almost 60 %—provides the right mix of energy and skill to elevate the country. Second, the country’s extensive experience in oil and gas offers opportunities for us to support major players in advancing their transformation journeys.

Third, the government is actively investing in digital initiatives that focus on people. We are committed to investing in local talent and in sales leaders who can bring us closer to customers. As I emphasized at AVEVA Day, Africa should be Africa for Africa. This means prioritising the continent’s unique needs rather than imposing a global standard that may not fit. My strategy involves leveraging local students, talent, and partners to innovate with our technology and meet customer demands. That is why I see Nigeria as a prime market for AVEVA.

Nigeria is positioned as a dynamic market in the EMEA region. What specific investments and talent development did AVEVA’s 2026 business roadmap bring to the Nigerian market?

Our first line of investment targets partners. We collaborate with Nigerian technology partners who resell AVEVA solutions, treating them as an extension of our team. We provide them with top‑grade training, technology, and learning outcomes.

We also engage with Nigerian universities, offering technology training to engineering students on the brink of graduation. One of my forthcoming initiatives is to strengthen ties with these institutions.

My goal is to establish robust partnerships with the university system, supplying them with our solutions for use in laboratories. This allows students to gain hands‑on experience with our technology before they graduate, bridging the gap between theoretical education and industry practice.

Nigerian businesses are under pressure from FX liquidity challenges and high capital cost. How will AVEVA’s Connect solution reduce cost of doing business in Nigeria?

We enable customers to unlock the power of their data. Every customer owns data but often fails to harness it. In a recent conversation in Abuja, I learned that the main challenge was increasing production or reducing utility bills. To address this, we bring organisational data into context, providing enterprise‑wide visibility so executives can make informed, real‑time decisions instead of waiting for reports.

Our approach consolidates operational and engineering data onto a unified platform, creating a digital twin—a virtual representation of physical assets. With full visibility, organisations can act swiftly and more effectively.

From your interactions with Nigerian businesses, what are the identified gaps and pain‑points in growing their businesses and how can AVEVA help to bridge the gap?

We follow a three‑stage process: gap analysis, implementation, and adoption. First, we assess a customer’s digital maturity and compare it with our experience across the industry. For example, in the oil and gas sector, we have worked with 90 % of global companies, giving us deep insight into upstream, refinery, and ministry pain‑points.

After identifying gaps, we advise on solutions and then implement the software. Finally, we support customers through adoption, recognising that simply installing software is insufficient; ongoing support is essential.

Nigeria has governance structure that could be different from what you have in your country. Where the governance system runs contrary to your own operational systems, what do you do?

AVEVA adheres to a “local for local” philosophy. Successful models in China and India demonstrate the value of a “country‑specific” approach. We adopt a similar “Africa for Africa” stance, aligning with local governance structures and relying on Nigerian partners to navigate the regulatory landscape.

AVEVA recently signed some partnership deals with global tech giants. How will the global partnership benefit Nigerian companies that are using your solutions?

Many of our global partners operate in Nigeria, giving our customers access to a wider ecosystem.