The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has outlined Nigeria’s strategy for unlocking greater investment in technology infrastructure and converting the country’s growing digital demand into sustainable capital.
Speaking during a high-level industry panel titled “Converting Digital Demand into Data Centre Investment,” Inuwa said Nigeria’s expanding digital ecosystem presents significant opportunities for infrastructure investment, but turning that demand into bankable projects requires clear government policies, regulatory certainty and trusted digital environments.
READ ALSO: OPENAI APPOINTS PAUL CHRISTIANO TO THE FOUNDATION BOARD
According to the NITDA DG, providing clear policy direction remains central to the government’s approach. He explained that the government must establish transparent strategic priorities that guide infrastructure development while creating an environment that encourages continued growth across the technology sector.
He noted that regulatory certainty is equally important, as it gives infrastructure providers the confidence to make long-term investments by providing clarity on how digital infrastructure will be deployed, regulated and utilised.
Inuwa also highlighted that Nigeria’s digital infrastructure opportunity goes beyond its large population. He pointed to the increasing demand for localised digital workloads and the country’s strategic geographic position as an important transit hub connecting West and Central Africa.
To strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, NITDA is also focusing on digital trust and cybersecurity. Inuwa referenced initiatives including the Digital Assurance Framework and National Cybersecurity Architecture, which are designed to promote cybersecurity-by-design across government systems and support the development of next-generation cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The panel also featured key industry leaders, including Ike Nnamani of Digital Realty Nigeria, Wole Abu of Equinix, Temitope Osunrinde of Africa Hyperscalers and Cherotich Kiereini of Oracle.
Discussions centred on how government demand, enterprise cloud adoption, data localisation and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence can generate the predictable demand required to attract investment and accelerate the development of Nigeria’s next generation of digital infrastructure.
