The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says it is necessary for Nigeria to control its digital infrastructure, data and technological future to achieve true digital sovereignty.
The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa said this in Abuja on Monday during the inauguration of a Technical Working Group (TWG) tasked with the responsibility of developing and building capacity for a national cloud infrastructure.
He said the initiative would attract hyper-scale investments and position Nigeria as a leading technology hub in Africa.
Cloud infrastructure is a combination of hardware and software elements that include computing power, networking, storage, and virtualisation resources essential to empower cloud computing.
Inuwa highlighted the need for accurate data and regulatory frameworks to support the initiative and ensure the country did not host its data outside the country.
“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 said.
The NITDA D-G regretted that Africa, which comprised about 19 per cent of the world’s population, had less than one per cent of global data centres.
He blamed the development on lack of accurate data, adding that the disparity, coupled with limited insights into Nigeria’s existing IT capacity, had hampered investment efforts.
He said without clear data on the country’s IT infrastructure, attracting investment would be challenging.
Inuwa said to address the challenge NITDA embarked on a comprehensive research to assess Nigeria’s digital landscape.
“The findings highlighted the need for improved regulatory framework, clearer investment incentives and stronger public-private collaboration.
“NITDA has engaged global consultants to redefine strategies for cloud development.
“As the TWG embarks on its mission, NITDA urges industry experts, policymakers, and stakeholders to contribute their expertise and resources to this initiative.
“With collective effort, Nigeria can emerge as the premier digital hub for West and Central Africa,” Inuwa said.
The Acting Director, Regulation and Compliance Department, NITDA, Mr Emmanuel Edet underscored the importance of regulatory intervention in fostering a robust digital economy.
Edet said the objective was to establish policies and legal frameworks that would support cloud development to securely host and manage data locally.
According to him, capacity building is highly needed to develop the infrastructure and enable the country to fully leverage on the benefits of digital technologies.
The TWG would help to attract hyper-scale investments for cloud capabilities.
It is also expected to suggest measures that would encourage the use of accurate data, recommend the enactment and compliance to enabling policies.
Members of the TWG include representatives of Google, Amazon Web Services, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Oracle and Microsoft.
Others are HUAWEI Cloud, Equinix, Kasi, Rack Centre, Africa Data Centres and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.
NAN
