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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says Nigeria must control digital infrastructure to fully benefit from its growing digital economy.
NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, made the statement on Thursday during a fireside chat at GITEX AI Nigeria in Lagos.
Inuwa said digital technology would be critical to Nigeria’s ambition of becoming a trillion-dollar economy by improving productivity, creating jobs and opening new sources of income.
He explained that businesses now depend heavily on data, internet connectivity and computing power, making control of digital infrastructure increasingly important to economic growth.
Nigeria must strengthen digital infrastructure
The NITDA boss said the government’s National Cloud-First Policy was designed to encourage businesses and large organisations to invest in cloud infrastructure while allowing them to focus on innovation and their core operations.
He stressed that the policy was not meant to shut out foreign technology companies.
Instead, he said Nigeria wants global technology firms to invest in the country, build infrastructure and operate under Nigerian regulations.
“We are saying, come to Nigeria, work with us and build with us,” Inuwa said.
According to him, the policy could attract investment from global technology companies, hyperscalers and local investors into Nigeria’s digital infrastructure sector.
Inuwa also said sensitive information, including defence, financial, citizens’ and healthcare data, must receive stronger protection because of their importance to national and economic security.
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NITDA highlights opportunities for startups
The NITDA director-general said Nigeria’s position as a major internet transit hub for West and Central Africa makes investment in domestic digital infrastructure even more important.
He added that stronger infrastructure and digital skills could also allow Nigeria to support neighbouring countries and expand its influence in the regional digital economy.
Inuwa urged Nigerian startups to look beyond fintech and explore opportunities in health-tech, agri-tech and ed-tech.
He said government initiatives were creating room for technology-driven solutions to some of the country’s biggest challenges.
“We want to see startups building similar solutions in other parts of the country, not just in fintech, where we already have many unicorns,” he said.
Inuwa said Nigeria’s experience in fintech had shown that the right policies and infrastructure could stimulate innovation and create entirely new industries.
He maintained that greater control of digital infrastructure would help Nigeria protect its data, attract investment and capture more value from the digital economy.