*Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, at a recent high-level industry panel in Nairobi, unveils Nigeria’s strategic playbook for unlocking the next wave of technology infrastructure capital, as the country positions to host the region’s digital future
Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect
Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has outlined Nigeria’s strategic playbook for unlocking the next wave of tech infrastructure capital.
Inuwa stated this as part of his powerful contribution to a high-level industry panel on converting digital demand into data centre investment at the ITW Data Cloud Africa 2026, in Nairobi, Kenyan capital.
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The Director-General of NITDA, at a high-level industry panel on “Converting Digital Demand into Data Centre Investment”, during the just concluded ITW Data Cloud Africa 2026 alongside Ike Nnamani of Digital Realty Nigeria, Wole Abu of Equinix, Temitope Osunrinde of Africa Hyperscalers and Cherotich Kiereini of Oracle emphasised that translating the the country’s skyrocketing digital footprint into bankable, sustainable investments requires a deliberate mix of government direction, regulatory certainty, and secure ecosystems.
The IT sector regulatory agency disclosed that central to the heart of the government’s approach is a commitment to providing absolute policy clarity.
Inuwa also emphasised the primary responsibility of Nigerian Government is to clearly establish strategic intentions, creating a stable framework that not only guides what needs to be built but actively catalyses growth across the tech landscape.
According to him, by giving investors full regulatory certainty, operators can build with confidence, knowing precisely how infrastructure will be deployed, governed, and consumed across the market.
Highlighting Nigeria’s unique advantages, Inuwa noted that the West African country’s value extends far beyond its vast population.
He noted the focus is now on capturing the growing market demand created by localised digital workloads while leveraging Nigeria’s natural geography as the ultimate transit and connectivity hub for West and Central Africa.
According to the agency, Nigeria, driven by a deep pool of local tech talent capable of building innovative solutions directly on top of modern digital networks, is primed to host the region’s digital future.
However, in order to sustain this momentum, NITDA is embedding digital trust at the core of national development through robust cybersecurity frameworks.
Inuwa detailed how initiatives like the Digital Assurance Framework, the Cybercrime Act, and the broader National Cybersecurity Architecture are building end-to-end security across every layer of the digital chain.
From individual last-mile devices to critical national infrastructure, government IT projects are now subject to strict cybersecurity-by-design clearances.
NITDA affirmed that through these targeted policy measures and collaborative security standards, Nigeria is laying down the predictable foundation needed to power the next generation of data centres, cloud, and artificial intelligence infrastructure.