Innovation: Nigeria charting path to inclusive, sustainable digital future –NITDA

*Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, highlights how Nigeria’s digital ambition focuses on designing and building a new societal fabric, and fresh economic operating system honed on inclusivity, resilience, security, and digital prosperity for consumers in the country  

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

Nigeria is currently charting an ambitious path towards a sustainable digital future anchored on innovation, inclusivity, and resilience.

The move is said to be in line with a vision underlining the core of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which focuses on reforming the Nigerian economy for sustainable growth, enhancing infrastructure, accelerating diversification through digitalisation and innovation, and strengthening governance for efficient service delivery to the citizenry.

ConsumerConnect reports Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), emphasised this much in a keynote address delivered at the NORDIC Nigeria Connect 2025, held in Lagos.

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Inuwa, who spoke on the theme: “Nigeria’s Digital Infrastructure Ambition and Path to Sustainability”, stated that Nigeria’s digital ambition transcends the physical construction of data centres, or the laying of fiber-optic cables.

The Director-General of NITDA also averred that sustainable digital future is about designing and building a new societal fabric, and fresh economic operating system for Nigerian consumers, founded on inclusivity, resilience, security, and digital prosperity.

The NITDA Chief Executive further explained that the country’s digital vision rests on two key components.

He said these are: Shared Digital Backbone and the Operational Backbone. The Shared Digital Backbone represents the hardware layer, including terrestrial fiber optics, subsea cables, green data centres, and sovereign cloud services that secure Nigeria’s data and ensure digital sovereignty.

The Operational Backbone, which forms the software layer, refers to Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), is a suite of interoperable systems that include digital identity, payment frameworks, and secure data exchange platforms.

The Information Technology (IT) sector regulatory agency said collectively, they create a unified national digital ecosystem that empowers startups to develop homegrown solutions tailored to Nigeria’s unique socio-economic context.

Referencing the recent global cloud outage experienced by Amazon Web Services (AWS), which disrupted digital operations across several economies on the African continent, Inuwa stressed the importance of digital independence.

The Director-General stated: “This incident reminds us that relying solely on foreign cloud regions does not ensure business continuity or digital independence.

“We must build the capacity for digital self-determination.”

Innuwa asserted that achieving Nigeria’s digital ambition requires more than technology, emphasising this demands “strong, forward-looking policies” that encourage innovation while safeguarding consumers.

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Outlining Nigeria’s path to sustainability, he identified three foundational pillars: Policy, People, and Partnerships.

Under the Policy Pillar, the Chief Executive of NITDA explained that Nigeria is building a predictable, pro-innovation regulatory environment that fosters growth and investor confidence.

Through the Nigeria Startup Act and Data Protection Act, the government has laid the groundwork for a stable digital market that safeguards rights while encouraging innovation.

Expatiating on the People Pillar, Inuwa noted that no infrastructure could thrive without the human talent to sustain it.

According to him, through the National Digital Literacy Framework and the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Programme, Nigeria is building a self-sustaining talent engine that empowers citizens to design, innovate, and drive the country’s digital future.

Under the Partnership Pillar, Inuwa reiterated the need for strategic collaboration with global partners. He highlighted that Nigeria is moving from ad-hoc relationships to structured partnerships that promote joint ventures, attract investment, and co-develop technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).

He revealed several major projects that are transforming this ambition into action. On infrastructure, the Project BRIDGE initiative is expanding Nigeria’s terrestrial fibre network to 125,000 kilometres through public-private partnerships, while the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative is fostering a competitive data storage ecosystem within Nigerian jurisdiction.

On the software side, the Nigeria Stack is driving nationwide digital identity, payments, and data exchange systems, while the OneGOV platform will unify all government services under a single digital window, the agency stated.

Inuwa, in his address, equally cited the agency’s ongoing efforts at the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), which is leading applied AI innovation through initiatives, such as the AI Collective and N-ATLAS, Nigeria’s indigenous large language model project.

He, therefore, urged greater collaboration within Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and stronger international partnerships, and particularly identified the NORDIC region as a key ally in Nigeria’s digital journey.

Inuwa disclosed exciting opportunities to leverage NORDIC expertise in technology and innovation while offering Nigeria’s vast talent pool and creative potential in return.

The NITDA Chief restated that Nigeria’s digital transformation rests on three foundational pillars, as robust digital infrastructure, human capital development, and strategic partnerships.

He asserted: “With clear vision, deliberate strategy, and inclusive policy frameworks, we are confident that Nigeria will not only achieve digital sustainability — we will lead Africa’s digital transformation.”

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