National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has inaugurated a taskforce to oversee the implementation of Nigeria’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative.
At the inauguration, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director-general, NITDA, said the committee’s immediate priority was to support financial institutions in meeting the CBN’s January 1, 2027 deadline for compliance with its cloud requirements.
He said the taskforce would work with banks through workshops and other measures to identify compliant cloud solutions and build confidence ahead of the deadline.
Abdullahi said NITDA would also develop an end-to-end certification system covering cloud infrastructure providers, cloud service providers and system integrators involved in helping banks migrate their workloads.
He said the agency plans to have a portal by October listing certified infrastructure providers, cloud service providers, system integrators and aggregators.
The NITDA chief said the certification would provide regulators and financial institutions with greater assurance that providers involved in cloud migration meet the required standards.
He said regulators would also require technology that provides visibility into cloud infrastructure, allowing NITDA and the CBN to independently monitor compliance and verify that sovereign data is being hosted within Nigeria.
The initiative, according to NITDA, is also expected to create opportunities for private-sector investment and technology talent by expanding the market for cloud infrastructure and related services.
Ike Nnamani, chief executive officer, Digital Realty Nigeria, said localising cloud infrastructure could attract investment into data centres, connectivity and cloud services while creating employment opportunities.
He said the impact would extend beyond financial services to sectors including healthcare, agriculture and manufacturing.
Nnamani also said local infrastructure could improve digital service quality by reducing latency, while keeping critical national data within Nigeria could strengthen national security.
Also speaking, Wole Abou, managing director of Equinix West Africa, said policy clarity was important for attracting long-term investment into Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
He disclosed that Equinix had already invested nearly $600 million in Nigeria, saying clearer rules could support further investment in the sector.
The multi-stakeholder taskforce will coordinate regulations, investment and local capacity to strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and protect critical data. Photo: NITDA
Emmanuel Edet, acting director of NITDA’s Regulation and Compliance Department, said the taskforce represented the conclusion of the initial policy-development phase and the beginning of implementation.
He said the framework had been developed with stakeholders over about two years and was designed to strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty while creating an enabling environment for economic growth.
The taskforce brings together government agencies, regulators and private-sector stakeholders to coordinate implementation of the sovereign cloud framework.
NITDA sasidthe focus now is to translate the approved guidelines into practical standards, certification, regulatory oversight and investment opportunities.
