The Technical Working Group (TWG) on National Cloud Infrastructure was established by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in a major step to strengthen Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
The objectives of this effort are to establish Nigeria as a major African technological hub, draw in hyper-scale investments, and improve local cloud capabilities. NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa spoke at the opening and stressed the importance of precise data and legal frameworks to support these activities, saying that for Nigeria to maintain control over its digital infrastructure, data, and technological future.
Inuwa went on to say: “Without this foundation, we cannot achieve true digital sovereignty. Our goal is to build an ecosystem where both local data centre providers can scale, and global hyper-scalers see Nigeria as a viable investment destination.”
He pointed out that although Africa is home to about 19% of the world’s population, less than 1% of data centres are located there, making the lack of reliable data on Nigeria’s IT infrastructure a major concern. He revealed: “This disparity, coupled with limited insights into Nigeria’s existing IT capacity, hampers investment efforts and without clear data on our infrastructure, attracting investment becomes challenging.”
According to the Head of NITDA, to tackle this issue, NITDA commissioned extensive research to evaluate Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. The results of this study, available to BrandSpur digital news platform, have indicated the necessity of better regulatory frameworks, more transparent investment incentives, and more robust public-private cooperation.
However, he continued by saying that NITDA has since hired international specialists to rethink cloud development methods. NITDA encourages stakeholders, legislators, and industry professionals to provide their knowledge and resources as the TWG sets off on its objective.
Furthering, he said: “With collective effort, Nigeria can emerge as the premier digital hub for West and Central Africa.”
Mr Emmanuel Edet, Acting Director of Regulation and Compliance, echoed the Director General’s opinions while emphasising the value of regulatory action in promoting a strong digital economy. He said: “Our objective is to establish policies and legal frameworks that support cloud development, enabling us to securely host and manage our data. This is crucial for the growth of our digital economy.”
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Additionally, he emphasises the need for capacity building by saying: “Equipping ourselves with top-tier training and expertise is essential to fully leverage digital technologies.”
All parties involved were urged by Mr Edet to take an active role in determining Nigeria’s digital destiny: “Collaboratively, we must develop a framework that reflects our national interests, and it should be widely accepted. This effort will define Nigeria’s role in the global digital arena.”
By suggesting actions to promote the use of reliable data and advising the adoption and adherence to enable regulations, the TWG will support the effort to draw in hyper-scale investments and improve local cloud capabilities. The Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Google, AWS, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, HUAWEI Cloud, Equinix, Kasi, Rack Centre, Africa Data Centres, and several other data centre operators have all indicated their support and willingness to volunteer and provide resources as part of the TWG.
