*Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, highlights the need to further drive cloud adoption and investment in the digital ecosystem, disclosing the agency is finalising a framework to mandate classification of data towards ensuring certain categories of data remain within Nigeria

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has restated its commitment to activating strategies to leverage innovative solutions and regulations in actualising the Presidential 8-Point agenda across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.

The Information Technology (IT) sector regulatory agency noted it is dedicated to fostering an innovative ecosystem that balances regulation with industry growth by investing in cloud infrastructure, data classification, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications to solidify its position as a leading digital hub in Africa.

Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of NITDA, stated this while speaking as a panellist at the Africa Hyperscalers Digital Infrastructure Outlook 2025.

Inuwa, in his address, also gave deep insights into the agency鈥檚 planned strategies in leveraging innovative solutions and regulations in actualising the Presidential 8-point agenda in the economy.

The agency also disclosed the Africa Hyperscalers Digital Infrastructure Outlook 2025 gathered industry experts from the tech ecosystem to examine and explore Africa鈥檚 role in the expanding global AI-driven infrastructure boom.

As regards NITDA’s regulatory framework to ensure adaptability in an ever-evolving technological landscape, the Director-General highlighted the agency’s two-pronged approach which are rule-based regulation and non-rule-based regulation.

Inuwa explained the rule-based regulation involves strict guidelines for industry compliance while non-rule-based regulation allows for industry-led innovation with established benchmarks.

He equally said: “Before we regulate anything, we need to be aware of the landscape, we need to be intelligent, we need to have data and make sense out of that data.

“We need to be dynamic because technology is fast-changing and we need to develop that agility within the regulatory framework.”

One of NITDA’s key initiatives is the Cloud First Policy, which was introduced in 2019, to discourage excessive reliance on physical data centres, he noted.

Inuwa further stated that the policy encourages government agencies and private businesses to leverage cloud computing, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and other digital solutions.

According to him, while the strategy initially granted waivers for businesses to use public cloud infrastructure, NITDA has since pushed for local data centres to scale up their capabilities.

NITDA’s successful engagements with hyperscaler providers, Google Cloud

Speaking on the agency鈥檚 achievements, Inuwa said that a major milestone in NITDA鈥檚 journey was its successful engagement with global hyperscaler providers and with Google Cloud pledging to collaborate with local data centres to drive cloud adoption and establish a hyperscaler data centre in Nigeria.

Inuwa also related: 鈥淭he Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, met President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Paris, and the President shared his transformative ambition for Nigeria.

“The President said that he believes technology can help him to achieve all the 8-point agenda from economic diversification, national security, food security, and infrastructures which include digital infrastructures with a focus on education and healthcare because technology can enable all of them.”

The Director-General disclosed Tinubu equally acknowledged the need to further drive cloud adoption and investment in the digital ecosystem.

He said NITDA is finalising a framework that will mandate the classification of data, ensuring that certain categories of data remain within Nigeria.

According to Inuwa, this move is expected to attract more cloud service providers and strengthen the country鈥檚 digital sovereignty.

Stressing that Africa鈥檚 focus should be on AI applications rather than building Large Language Models (LLMs), Inuwa disclosed that NITDA is also prioritising the application of AI to enhance governance, regulation, and service delivery.

Inuwa as well asserted that the agency has identified 3 areas in which AI can revolutionise governance and business operations by automating processes, enhancing regulatory efficiency and developing knowledge management systems.

He noted:

“The real power of AI is in application, not in building large language models (LLMs). “We should focus on deploying AI to sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and financial services, where it can make an immediate impact.”

Earlier in her opening remark at the event, Dr. Nadu Denloye, Co-founder of Telnet Nigeria Limited, averred that Africa is on the cusp of a remarkable digital transformation, driven by advancements in connectivity, cloud adoption, data centres, artificial intelligence, and a growing digital-native population.

Describing the programme as a platform for solutions.

Dr. Denloye expressed confidence that the programme would craft solutions that would provide crucial insights and actionable strategies to drive Africa鈥檚 digital growth.

She also stated: “Africa鈥檚 digital revolution is unfolding at an unprecedented pace.

“By leveraging our collective expertise and fostering collaboration among key stakeholders, we can overcome obstacles and unlock the immense opportunities that lie ahead.”

Other panelists present at the event were the CEO Open Access Data Centres and the Chairman of the Africa Data Centres Association Dr. Ayaotunde Coker, Chief Executive Officer, Kasi Cloud, Johnson AgboGbua, Data Centres Global Sector Lead, International Finance Corporation, Mr Obinna Isiadinso, Chief Operating Officer, IHS, Kazeem Oladepo, and the Commercial Director, Bayobab, Mrs Abibat Kazeem.

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