Nigeria is positioning itself to tap into a projected $1.9 billion data centre market by 2031, even as more than 90 percent of its data is hosted abroad, raising concerns over sovereignty, security and lost economic value.
- +Nigeria eyes $1.9bn data centre boom amid 90% offshore data risk
Industry leaders and policymakers say stronger regulation, rising demand for digital services and increased investment in local infrastructure could help Africa’s most populous nation reduce its reliance on foreign data hosting and unlock new growth in its digital economy.
Industry leaders and policymakers say stronger regulation, rising demand for digital services and increased investment in local infrastructure could help Africa’s most populous nation reduce its reliance on foreign data hosting and unlock new growth in its digital economy.
Kashifu Inuwa, the director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), said policy is emerging as the key driver of Nigeria’s digital transformation, particularly in shaping the development of the Lagos-Abuja digital corridor.
“While infrastructure responds to demand, policy creates the enabling environment for sustainable growth,” Inuwa who was represented by Aristotle Onumo, director, stakeholders management and partnership at the IoT West Africa Conference in Lagos, on the theme “The Lagos-Abuja Digital Corridor: Building Africa’s Next Data Centre and Cloud Hub.”
Inuwa emphasised that while infrastructure responds to demand, policy remains the critical driver that creates an enabling environment for sustainable digital growth.
He explained that Nigeria’s broadband policy, which stipulates minimum speeds of 10 Mbps for rural areas and 25 Mbps for urban centres, provides a strategic framework for prioritising infrastructure deployment along the Lagos-Abuja digital corridor. He cautioned, however, that without deliberate collaboration and partnership between government, the private sector, and civil society, widespread infrastructure rollout would remain challenging. “Collaboration is the pathway that massifies impact, while partnership harnesses collective intelligence. No one can achieve this in isolation,” he said.
Inuwa also spoke on the Nigerian Sovereign Cloud Project; a flagship initiative aimed at strengthening indigenous cloud service providers and preventing the dominance of Nigeria’s digital infrastructure by foreign hyperscale operators. By scaling local infrastructure to meet global standards, the project seeks to domesticate data hosting, reduce operational costs, and improve access to cloud services across the country.
He further stressed that policy must not only enable infrastructure development but also stimulate demand. As an example, he cited the consolidation of servers by government agencies, which creates significant demand for cloud services and, in turn, drives investment in data centres. He emphasised the importance of public-private partnerships (PPP) in co-creating, co-owning, and co-delivering data centres and digital services.
“We are no longer looking at IT from the perspective of infrastructure alone, but as an integrated system that creates value for the people,” Inuwa said.
He called on stakeholders across sectors to work with NITDA in building a digital Nigeria, stating: “If we must achieve our mission, we need you, and you need us. Together, we can make Nigeria a digitally enabled nation, fostering inclusive economic development through technological innovation.”
Highlighting NITDA’s strategic action plan, Onumo referenced initiatives such as the Digital Literacy for All programme, which aims to ensure that 70 percent of Nigerians acquire digital skills by 2027. Through partnerships with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), he noted that NITDA is deploying digital literacy champions across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, with a target of training 30 million Nigerians within three years. “That is the power of collaboration and partnership,” he added.
In his remarks, Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), stressed the importance of safeguarding Nigeria’s digital economy through strong data protection and privacy frameworks.
He highlighted data sovereignty, the growing role of data centres, and regulatory expectations under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, noting both the benefits of compliance and the risks of non-compliance. Dr Olatunji underscored that data centres are now critical infrastructure for Nigeria’s digital transformation.
While decrying that over 90 percent of the Nigeria’s data is hosted abroad which is precarious for the nation’s sovereignty he encouraged for more investment in the sector as it is projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2031.
