NITDA unveils plans to make Nigeria West Africa’s cloud hub
Nigeria is inviting global technology companies and local developers to invest in its digital infrastructure as it seeks to become West Africa’s leading cloud hub.
Speaking at ITW Data Cloud Africa 2026, NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi said the government plans to provide regulatory certainty, create demand and build a sovereign cloud ecosystem serving Nigeria and the wider region.
He said local data capacity is operating at nearly 90 per cent, forcing reliance on offshore resources. To address this, the government’s Cloud-First Policy will consolidate public-sector IT spending and make government an anchor customer for cloud developers.
Between 2023 and mid-2026, federal ministries, departments and agencies spent N3.89 trillion, or about $2.9 billion, on technology. Abdullahi said government demand generates nearly $1 billion annually and would increasingly support shared cloud infrastructure rather than isolated data centres.
NITDA is also creating a single compliance portal and aligning requirements across regulators to simplify cloud adoption, including for financial institutions.
Abdullahi said the initiative prioritises competition and international interoperability over rigid data localisation. Broadband penetration has exceeded 56 per cent, with 192 million mobile subscribers and 157 million internet users. The domestic cloud market is projected to grow from $376 million in 2026 to over $783 million by 2031.
The National Digital Cloud Policy targets $750 million in digital infrastructure investment within two years, including $250 million in private capital in the first year. Nigeria also plans to support cross-border data frameworks across West and Central Africa.
