Nigeria is moving to leverage about $1 billion in annual public-sector technology spending to accelerate the development of a robust domestic cloud computing ecosystem and position the country as a leading digital infrastructure hub in West Africa.
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, disclosed this while speaking at a workshop on “Nigeria’s Digital Infrastructure Opportunity” during ITW Data Cloud Africa 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Inuwa said the Federal Government was seeking to transform Nigeria from a major consumer of offshore digital services into a regional powerhouse for cloud computing, supported by clear regulations, structured demand and increased private-sector investment in digital infrastructure.
According to him, Nigeria’s growing demand for computing capacity is currently being met significantly through foreign infrastructure, while local data capacity is already operating at nearly 90 per cent utilisation.
He said the government was therefore using its purchasing power under the newly institutionalised Cloud-First Policy to consolidate fragmented public-sector technology spending and create a strong anchor market for cloud infrastructure developers.
The NITDA Director-General revealed that between 2023 and mid-2026, 326 Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) spent about ₦3.89 trillion, equivalent to approximately $2.9 billion, on technology investments.
He noted that government demand alone generates close to $1 billion annually, adding that the objective was to channel a significant portion of the spending towards cloud services and shared digital architecture rather than duplicating investments in isolated government data centres.
Inuwa also highlighted measures being introduced by NITDA to provide greater regulatory certainty for investors, including a proposed single-interface portal designed to simplify compliance across different government agencies.
He explained that the approach would allow sector regulators, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, to adopt common baseline standards, making it easier for regulated institutions to migrate core data and services to locally hosted cloud platforms without facing multiple layers of regulatory approval.
The NITDA boss stressed that the regulatory framework was primarily aimed at market creation and investor confidence, rather than revenue generation, with emphasis on competition, interoperability and sustainable growth of the digital ecosystem.
He said Nigeria’s digital market was already benefiting from rising broadband and internet penetration, with broadband penetration exceeding 56 per cent, alongside about 192 million mobile subscribers and 157 million internet users.
Inuwa further disclosed that projections indicate Nigeria’s domestic cloud market could expand from approximately $376 million in 2026 to more than $783 million by 2031, while investments in digital infrastructure are expected to receive further impetus from the government’s strategic policies.
Beyond Nigeria, he said the ambition was to establish the country as a digital infrastructure and data transit hub for West and Central Africa, particularly by leveraging its geographical position and connectivity with neighbouring countries.
According to him, the National Digital Cloud Policy targets about $750 million in total digital infrastructure investments within two years, beginning with $250 million in private capital during the first year.
He said harmonising digital standards with neighbouring countries would also facilitate cross-border data flows and strengthen Africa’s digital sovereignty by enabling countries to determine how their data is hosted, protected and scaled within the continent.
