By: Peter Emmanuel |
The Federal Government has unveiled the National Digital Cloud Policy to attract investment into Nigeria’s cloud and data infrastructure while strengthening digital sovereignty and transforming government services.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, said the policy is aimed at moving Nigeria from being mainly a consumer of global cloud infrastructure to becoming a competitive location for infrastructure, investment, skills and digital services.
According to Tijani, the government wants Nigerian and international cloud providers to invest in the country, build capacity and serve both the Nigerian market and the wider African continent from Nigeria.
He said the policy would maintain an open and competitive cloud market while ensuring that sensitive government and regulated data are protected in line with national interests.
The policy forms part of the Federal Government’s broader digital economy agenda and is expected to support investment, job creation, digital service exports and the development of Nigeria’s cloud computing and data centre ecosystem.
Policy Targets $750m Private Investment in Two Years
The National Digital Cloud Policy seeks to create a predictable and competitive environment for investment in data centres, cloud infrastructure, connectivity and artificial intelligence computing capacity.
The Federal Government has set an initial target of mobilising $250 million in private investment within the first 12 months of implementation.
The target is expected to rise to $750 million within 24 months as Nigeria expands its digital infrastructure and strengthens its position as a regional hosting and processing hub.
The policy provides for fiscal, regulatory, commercial and investment facilitation measures for qualifying cloud and data infrastructure projects. These include measures addressing energy constraints, capital mobility and export earnings.
It also provides for technology transfer and capability development obligations for investors benefiting from government incentives, with the aim of strengthening local skills and digital capacity.
FG Moves to Strengthen Data Protection and Digital Sovereignty
A major part of the policy is the establishment of clear requirements for the protection, residency and control of defined categories of government and regulated data.
However, the Federal Government said it would not impose general data localisation requirements on commercial data, allowing both domestic and international cloud providers to participate in the Nigerian market.
Tijani said the government had a responsibility to ensure that its most sensitive digital assets are governed and secured in a manner consistent with the country’s national interests.
He described the policy as a balanced framework that promotes investment and competition while strengthening indigenous capability and applying sovereignty requirements only where they are necessary.
The policy will also support cross-border data flows, regional interconnection, international standards alignment and mutual recognition arrangements to enable digital services delivered from Nigeria to reach customers across ECOWAS and the wider African market.
Government Adopts Cloud-First Approach to Transform Public Services
The policy introduces a strengthened Cloud First approach across Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, supported by coordinated procurement, shared digital infrastructure and whole-of-government aggregation of cloud demand.
Under the framework, government will aggregate cloud demand from multiple registered providers and provide shared government cloud services. The approach is expected to reduce duplicated expenditure and secure better commercial terms for government.
The Federal Government will also establish a National Digital Marketplace to support transparent procurement of cloud and digital infrastructure services, alongside dedicated cloud budget arrangements and an anchor-capacity mechanism.
Implementation will take place through a phased 24-month roadmap. The first six months will focus on policy activation, baseline assessments, implementation directives and institutional arrangements, while the next six months will cover priority government migrations, provider onboarding and regional market development.
The final 12 months will focus on scaling government migration, expanding infrastructure capacity, onboarding participating states, strengthening regional interconnection and accelerating digital service exports.
The policy assigns regulatory oversight, standards and assurance to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), while Galaxy Backbone (GBB) will lead operational delivery, shared infrastructure and aggregation. The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) will ensure compliance with public procurement requirements.
The Federal Government said the policy would complement existing digital infrastructure and human capital initiatives, including Project BRIDGE and the 3 Million Technical Talent Programme, as part of efforts to build a secure, competitive and globally connected digital infrastructure ecosystem in Nigeria.
