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Agency unveils strategic digital roadmap at Africa Hyperscalers Digital Infrastructure Outlook 2025.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reaffirmed its commitment to driving digital innovation, balancing regulation with industry growth, and positioning Nigeria as Africa’s leading digital hub.
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This was highlighted by NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, during his panel session at the Africa Hyperscalers Digital Infrastructure Outlook 2025, where he outlined the agency’s strategic investments in cloud computing, AI applications, and a dynamic regulatory framework to support Nigeria’s digital transformation and the Presidential 8-Point Agenda.
The high-profile event convened global tech leaders, industry experts, and policymakers to explore Africa’s expanding role in the global AI-driven infrastructure ecosystem.
NITDA’s Dual Approach to Regulation: Enabling Innovation While Ensuring Compliance
During his session, Abdullahi emphasized NITDA’s forward-thinking regulatory framework, which balances strict compliance with industry-driven innovation. He described the agency’s two-pronged approach:
- Rule-Based Regulation – Establishing clear guidelines to ensure industry compliance.
- Non-Rule-Based Regulation – Allowing innovation to flourish within structured benchmarks.
“Before we regulate anything, we need to understand the landscape, analyze data, and ensure our frameworks are dynamic and adaptable. Technology evolves rapidly, and regulation must be equally agile,” Abdullahi stated.
Nigeria’s Cloud First Policy: Reducing Reliance on Physical Data Centers
A key pillar of NITDA’s digital strategy is its Cloud First Policy, introduced in 2019, which promotes cloud computing and SaaS adoption over traditional physical data centers.
- Encourages government agencies and businesses to adopt cloud-based infrastructure.
- Reduces excessive spending on physical data centers.
- Strengthens local cloud service providers and data centers.
Initially, businesses were granted waivers to use public cloud infrastructure, but NITDA is now actively supporting local data center expansion.
Strategic partnerships are driving cloud adoption, including NITDA’s collaboration with Google Cloud to establish a hyperscaler data center in Nigeria.
“Google CEO Sundar Pichai met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Paris, where the President emphasized technology as a key driver for economic diversification, food security, and digital infrastructure development,” Abdullahi revealed.
Boosting Digital Sovereignty with Data Classification Framework
To enhance national security and attract cloud service providers, NITDA is finalizing a data classification framework that will:
- Ensure certain categories of data remain within Nigeria.
- Protect sensitive government and business information.
- Strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty.
This move is expected to spur investment in local cloud services and hyperscaler data centers while ensuring compliance with global data governance standards.
Prioritizing AI for Governance, Business, and Service Delivery
While global discussions focus on Large Language Models (LLMs), NITDA’s AI strategy is centered on practical applications that deliver immediate impact.
- Key AI focus areas include:
Automating government processes for efficiency. - Enhancing regulatory oversight with AI-driven compliance monitoring.
- Developing AI-powered knowledge management systems.
“The real power of AI is in its application, not just in building LLMs. We should deploy AI where it has the most impact—sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and financial services,” Abdullahi stated.
Africa’s Digital Revolution: Unlocking Opportunities for Growth
In her opening remarks, Dr. Nadu Denloye, Co-founder of Telnet Nigeria Limited, emphasized that Africa stands on the brink of a transformative digital era, driven by connectivity advancements, cloud adoption, AI, and a tech-savvy population.
“By leveraging collective expertise and fostering collaboration, we can unlock Africa’s full digital potential,” she remarked.
The event also featured insights from key industry leaders, including:
- Dr. Ayotunde Coker – CEO, Open Access Data Centres & Chairman, Africa Data Centres Association.
- Johnson AgboGbua – CEO, Kasi Cloud.
- Obinna Isiadinso – Global Sector Lead, Data Centres, IFC.
- Kazeem Oladepo – COO, IHS.
- Abibat Kazeem – Commercial Director, Bayobab.
NITDA’s Vision: Nigeria as Africa’s Leading Digital Economy
By balancing innovation with regulation, advancing AI applications, and driving cloud adoption, NITDA said it was laying the foundation for Nigeria’s emergence as Africa’s premier digital hub.
With strategic investments in infrastructure and policy frameworks, the agency is ensuring that Nigeria remains competitive in the evolving global digital economy.
Nigeria’s digital transformation is accelerating—powered by bold policies, strategic collaborations, and a commitment to innovation.
