NITDA, Galaxy Backbone collaborate to boost tech startup ecosystem

*Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, discloses the agency’s strategic partnership with Galaxy Backbone Limited focuses on data sovereignty, digital inclusion, and growth of indigenous innovation towards building a resilient and globally competitive tech startup ecosystem

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

As part of critical steps in Nigeria’s digital evolution, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), through the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), has struck a strategic partnership with Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB).

NITDA’s collaborative effort with the Galaxy Backbone, Nigeria’s foremost ICT infrastructure and shared services provider, is aimed at providing subsidised sovereign cloud services for startups in the iHatch programme in the country’s digital environment.

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ConsumerConnect reports the Information Technology (IT) sector regulatory agency affirmed the current collaboration is a critical move in Nigeria’s digital evolution.

The agency also noted that the partnership focuses on data sovereignty, digital inclusion, and the growth of indigenous innovation.

On Galaxy Cloud Platform’s sovereign infrastructure

Expatiating further the strategic importance of the collaboration, NITDA explained that under the agreement, participating startups would be onboarded to the Galaxy Cloud Platform (GxCP).

It also described GxCP as “a sovereign infrastructure” supported by Uptime-certified Tier III and Tier IV data centres, a nationwide fibre network, and advanced cybersecurity capabilities.

Speaking on the technical partnership with Galaxy Backbone, Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of NITDA, said the partnership reinforced the IT regulatory agency’s commitment to building a resilient and globally competitive startup ecosystem by providing access to essential digital infrastructure.

Prof. Adeyanju: How NITDA, GBB’s initiative empowers tech startups

In his remarks on the arrangement between his organisation and NITDA, Prof. Ibrahim Adeyanju, Managing Director/CEO of GBB, also said that the initiative empowered startups with secure, enterprise-grade cloud services at highly subsidised rates.

Mrs. Hadiza Umar, fnipr, f.apra, mcipr, Director of Corporate Communications and Media Relations at NITDA, Saturday, May 2, 2026, stated Prof. Adeyanju explained the strategic partnership initiative also allows startups to host data locally, and strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty, stated he.

The two organisations explained that to ensure sustainability, GBB would use a tiered, milestone-based model where cloud credits are released across the “Build, Validate, and Scale” phases of a startup’s journey.

It is explained these credits are valid for 12 months, after which startups transition to a standard or pay-as-you-go billing.

The initiative includes a dedicated Startup Success Team from GBB to drive adoption, along with automated usage monitoring for resource optimisation.

NITDA said crucially, all post-credit billing would be in Nigerian Naira to protect startups from Foreign Exchange (Forex) volatility.

Speaking on the collaboration, Abdul Malik Suleiman, General Manager of Strategic Partnerships at GBB, described the move as a deliberate effort at bridging the gap between infrastructure and innovation.

Likewise, Victoria Fabunmi, National Coordinator of ONDI, as well emphasised that integrating GBB’s sovereign cloud into iHatch would enhance the capacity of startups to scale while using the right tools to compete globally.

The agency revealed that the iHatch programme had already trained over 160 startups across 37 hub partners thus far.

This partnership is set to further accelerate innovation and scale within Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, Mrs. Umar added.

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