Nigeria is setting its sights on a bigger role in Africa’s digital infrastructure market, with the Federal Government targeting $750 million in private investment for cloud and data infrastructure within 24 months.
The National Digital Cloud Policy, unveiled on Monday, August 17, 2026, by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, is designed to increase local cloud and data-centre capacity, generate jobs, deepen indigenous digital expertise and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a base for digital services across the continent.
The investment programme has an initial target of $250 million in private capital during the first year, rising to $750 million by the end of the second year.
Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, said Nigeria needed to move beyond its role as a major consumer of cloud infrastructure and develop into a competitive destination for infrastructure, investment, talent and digital services.
He said the framework would remain open to Nigerian and international providers, giving them room to invest, expand capacity, develop skills and serve customers in Nigeria and other African markets.
The policy also establishes a distinction between ordinary commercial information and data requiring national protection. Commercial data will not be subject to a blanket localisation requirement. Sovereignty provisions will apply to defined categories of government and regulated data where national control is considered necessary.
Government demand is expected to play an important role in making the market attractive to investors. Cloud requirements from multiple registered providers will be aggregated, while shared government cloud services will help reduce duplicated expenditure and improve purchasing terms.
A National Digital Marketplace will coordinate public procurement of cloud and digital infrastructure services. The framework also provides for dedicated cloud budget arrangements and an anchor-capacity mechanism intended to create dependable demand for private-sector investment.
Implementation responsibilities have been distributed among key government institutions. The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will handle regulatory oversight, standards and assurance. Galaxy Backbone (GBB) will lead operational delivery, shared infrastructure and aggregation, while the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) will ensure compliance with public procurement requirements.
The first six months of the 24-month roadmap will focus on activating the policy, conducting baseline assessments and establishing the necessary institutional arrangements.
From months six to 12, the government plans to operationalise the National Digital Marketplace, commence priority migration of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and onboard registered providers.
The remaining 12 months will be devoted to scaling migration, increasing capacity, bringing participating states into the programme and pushing the export of digital services.
The regional market is a significant part of the plan. Through cross-border data flows, regional interconnection and alignment with international standards, Nigeria intends to enable cloud and data services hosted locally to reach customers across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the wider African market.
The cloud policy also connects with two major national initiatives. Project BRIDGE is expected to deploy at least 90,000 kilometres of additional fibre-optic infrastructure, while the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Programme is developing expertise in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and software engineering.
With connectivity, skills and computing infrastructure being developed alongside a policy aimed at attracting capital, Nigeria is seeking to strengthen the foundations on which its digital economy can expand.
The immediate goal is $750 million in private investment. The larger opportunity is to build enough capacity for Nigerian businesses, public institutions and technology companies to rely more heavily on infrastructure within the country, while enabling locally hosted digital services to reach markets across Africa.
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