Businesses urged to strengthen cyber resilience at Commvault Shift Conference 2026

Participants at the maiden West Africa edition of the SHIFT Conference, held on May 14th at the Lagos Continental Hotel on Victoria Island, have been urged to embrace cyber resilience amid a surge in global cyber threats across every sector of the economy.

Hosted by *Commvault*, a global leader in cyber resilience, data protection, backup, and recovery, the conference brought together technology leaders, cybersecurity experts, and business executives from across West Africa.

The event, themed *“The Cyber Resilience World Is Shifting Indeed,”* focused on how organizations can stay operational in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Cyber Resilience Now a Business Imperative

Speakers agreed that cyber resilience is no longer optional—it’s a business imperative. With AI adoption, cloud computing, and digital services expanding rapidly, the attack surface for businesses in Nigeria and across West Africa has widened significantly.

Cross section of participants at the maiden Shift Conference in Lagos hosted by Commvault at the Lagos Continental Hotel* on the 14th of May.

Citing data from the Nigerian Communications Commission, *Rasheed Ola Jimoh*, Senior Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Commvault, said Nigeria records approximately *3,500 cyberattacks every week*. A large portion involve ransomware, where attackers lock an organization’s data and demand payment for its release.

“Every organisation is going to face some form of attack, one way or the other. The question is whether they are ready to bounce back,” Ola Jimoh said.

Traditional Recovery No Longer Enough

*Fady Richmany*, Corporate Vice President and General Manager for Commvault’s Emerging Markets, said many organizations remain unprepared for the scale and complexity of modern threats. Traditional disaster recovery alone is no longer enough.

“Once you have a breach or attack, your data can be encrypted or locked. Whatever disaster recovery planning you had before may no longer work. That is why organisations now need a cyber recovery strategy,” Richmany explained.

He warned that the rise of agentic AI systems is creating millions of non-human identities, which can become entry points for attackers if not properly secured. 

At the same time, businesses operating across multiple cloud platforms face added risk as data becomes fragmented across regions, SaaS environments, and on-premise systems.

Global data shows it takes organizations an average of *24 days* to fully recover from major cyberattacks. Richmany noted that prolonged downtime can damage reputations and disrupt critical services.

Right to LEFT: Corporate Vice President & GM  Emerging Markets, Commvault ; Hawa Harbubakar,
Territory Acct. Manager; Rasheed Jimoh Snr.  Director Sub-Saharan Africa – Commvault; Nnenna, Channel Manager – CEWA; Cristobal Macedo
General Manager, Commvault

Commvault’s Approach: Isolated Vaults and Cleanroom Testing

Commvault’s approach centers on a cyber recovery strategy that includes:

– An isolated, secure copy of data stored in a vault

– “C2leanroom” testing to rehearse recovery in a controlled environment before a real incident occurs

Ravi Baldev Singh, Senior Director of Sales Engineering at Commvault, said African enterprises can no longer afford to delay investment in cyber resilience infrastructure. With banking, retail, and financial services becoming increasingly digital, resilient systems are now basic infrastructure.

“Data infrastructure and resilient operations are no longer nice-to-haves. They are now basic infrastructure requirements.  

The enterprises that serve the common person need to pivot. Time is muscle—the longer you wait, the more you lose,” he said.

Cross-section of participants at the maiden Shift Conference in Lagos hosted by Commvault at the Lagos Continental Hotel on the 14th of May.

Nigeria Chosen for Strategic Importance

Cristobal Macedo, General Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa at Commvault, said Nigeria was chosen for the conference due to its growing strategic importance in Africa’s tech ecosystem.

He added that demand for enterprise cybersecurity and resilience services in the region has risen sharply over the last three years, pushing companies to seek stronger local support.

Ola Jimoh said the goal of SHIFT Conference is to raise awareness and give organizations practical tools to maintain business continuity during attacks.

*The message to businesses was clear:* assume cyber incidents are inevitable, focus on how quickly you can recover and resume operations.

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