The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is advancing Nigeria’s digital sovereignty agenda through the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (NSCI), convening a stakeholder engagement to align the nation’s cloud ecosystem with national security, economic development, and digital transformation priorities.
The engagement was organised to socialise, validate, and consolidate stakeholder inputs on the national frameworks developed under the NSCI. It is also aimed at ensuring broad alignment as Nigeria transitions from policy design to implementation of a sovereign, secure, and nationally governed cloud ecosystem.
Speaking at the Socialisation Workshop organised by the Agency, the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said Nigeria’s digital future depends on a decisive shift to cloud-based infrastructure. He noted that fragmented server rooms and isolated systems are no longer suitable in an era defined by massive data volumes, interconnectivity, and digitally delivered public and private services.
He explained that beyond cloud adoption, the broader objective is digital sovereignty. According to him, this involves protecting critical national systems from disruption, strengthening resilience, and ensuring that Nigeria retains strategic and economic value from its digital infrastructure.
The Director General stressed that the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative is not protectionist but deliberately collaborative. He said it is positioning Nigeria as a leading digital and data hub in Africa through strategic hyperscaler partnerships, strong private sector participation, and government-enabled incentives that encourage long-term investment and local capacity development.
He added that this approach aligns with the priority areas of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, particularly in strengthening national security and accelerating economic diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing, and innovation.
The National Sovereign Cloud Initiative has produced three key national instruments for stakeholder validation and adoption: the National Cloud-First Guidelines, the National Cloud Technical Guidelines, and the National Cloud Investment Strategy. Together, these documents define what must be done, how it must be done, and how Nigeria’s cloud ecosystem will scale sustainably.
The journey began in 2019 with the issuance of the National Cloud Computing Policy, which catalysed cloud adoption across government institutions. Between 2019 and 2024, cloud usage expanded significantly, enabled by global hyperscalers alongside a growing base of indigenous providers. By 2024, stakeholders agreed that adoption alone was insufficient, and that governance, structure, and sovereignty were required to underpin sustainable growth.
In November 2024, NITDA convened a national workshop bringing together government institutions, indigenous providers, hyperscalers, regulators, and cybersecurity experts around a balanced sovereign cloud vision. This was followed in 2025 by the establishment of a Technical Working Group, which undertook extensive policy, technical, and investment deliberations.
By mid-2025, the outputs of this work were consolidated into the three foundational national instruments now being presented to stakeholders. With robust plenary discussions forming a central part of the engagement, contributions shared during the session will inform final refinements and implementation priorities of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, as Nigeria strengthens a secure, trusted, resilient, and investment-ready cloud ecosystem anchored in national interest.
