{"id":5799,"date":"2026-10-30T18:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T18:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5799"},"modified":"2026-10-30T19:50:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T19:50:42","slug":"nitda-cbn-strengthen-digital-sovereignty-with-national-sovereign-cloud-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5799","title":{"rendered":"NITDA, CBN strengthen digital sovereignty with National Sovereign Cloud Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General,&nbsp; NITDA, National Information Technology Development Agency, explains the agency&#8217;s partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria is designed to advance the implementation of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative and data localisation in the West African country <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect<\/p>\n<p>The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) restates its commitment to strengthening Nigeria\u2019s digital sovereignty while protecting the critical digital infrastructure through its partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).<\/p>\n<p><em>ConsumerConnect<\/em> reports NITDA noted the initiative is designed to advance the implementation of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative and data localisation.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"iRre8TUSi8\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5747\">ONSA, NCC, NITDA, others advocate collaboration, cyber resilience over AI-generated attacks<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cONSA, NCC, NITDA, others advocate collaboration, cyber resilience over AI-generated attacks\u201d \u2014 Consumer Experience Is A Top Priority\" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=5747&amp;embed=true#?secret=LUlG2xRgIH#?secret=iRre8TUSi8\" data-secret=\"iRre8TUSi8\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of NITDA, said this at the Executive Regulatory Dialogue, which the agency organised in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in Lekki, Lagos State.<\/p>\n<p>The agency affirmed the stakeholder engagement attracted participants across the financial services, telecoms, data centre, and technology sectors of the Nigerian economy.<\/p>\n<p>The forum discussed strategies to strengthen Nigeria\u2019s control over the digital infrastructure that underpins its economy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Inuwa: Digital sovereignty now a critical national priority <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In his welcome and context-setting address at the event, Inuwa emphasised that digital sovereignty has become a critical national priority as the Nigerian economy increasingly relies on digital platforms and infrastructure to deliver essential services, particularly in the financial sector.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting the potential implications of external disruptions to essential digital services, the NITDA Chief Executive queried the development and said, \u201cImagine what will happen to our economy, if tomorrow a major disruption or geopolitical crisis prevents our banks from accessing critical digital infrastructure hosted outside our country.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Can our citizens still transfer money? Can businesses still receive payments?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan our banks keep processing transactions? Can our economy continue functioning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Director-General also explained that such concerns extend beyond technology to issues of national economic security, financial stability, and Nigeria&#8217;s ability to maintain control over its digital future.<\/p>\n<p>Digital sovereignty, he noted, should not be interpreted as technological isolation or an attempt to develop every technology locally. Rather, it involves building the national capacity required to make informed decisions about the technologies, infrastructure and standards on which the country depends.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What digital sovereignty is not <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Clarifying what the concept of digital sovereignty really means to economies, Inuwa said: \u201cDigital sovereignty is not about politics. It is not about isolation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is not about building everything ourselves, but it is about building our digital capacity to compete in the world we are today.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Director-General emphasised that Nigeria\u2019s financial sector provides a compelling example of how deliberate policy decisions could stimulate digital transformation and local innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Recalling the introduction of the CBN\u2019s cashless policy years ago, he explained that the policy\u2019s push for financial institutions to upgrade their technology infrastructure helped create opportunities for fintech companies to develop innovative solutions, contributing to Nigeria\u2019s emergence as a leading FinTech ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa commended the CBN for taking further steps to strengthen the country\u2019s control over the infrastructure supporting financial services.<\/p>\n<p>He, therefore, expressed confidence that the sector, once more, could lead the way in advancing Nigeria\u2019s digital transformation.<\/p>\n<p>He stated: \u201cThrough this partnership, NITDA and CBN are working together to make sure the financial sector is the first sector to comply with our National Sovereign Cloud Initiative.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to him, NITDA\u2019s role is to provide the standards and overarching policy framework that sector-specific regulators can leverage to advance digital transformation within their respective industries.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that achieving digital sovereignty requires a collaborative ecosystem involving financial institutions, telecoms operators, data centre providers, system integrators, technology companies and global cloud service providers.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa as well assured industry stakeholders that the Nigerian technology ecosystem has the capacity to support the initiative.<\/p>\n<p>The country, he revealed, is building on existing capabilities and international experience rather than starting from scratch.<\/p>\n<p>Inuwa further said: \u201cWe have done it before, and we are going to do it now. &#8220;So this is not something you can doubt; it is something that already exists.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He urged stakeholders to work collectively towards implementing the initiative.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Basic principles of digital sovereignty, by Inuwa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The NITDA Chief further disclosed that an assurance framework would guide implementation, with the Agency seeking to leverage existing international certification standards while ensuring compliance with Nigeria\u2019s national sovereign architecture requirements.<\/p>\n<p>The development of national certification options is also being explored to provide greater flexibility and choice, noted he.<\/p>\n<p>The Director-General also identified control, independence, resilience, risk management and freedom of choice as fundamental principles of digital sovereignty. According to him, Nigeria must develop the capacity to maintain essential services despite external disruptions, reduce exposure to geopolitical and technology-related risks, and avoid excessive dependence on individual vendors or jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p>Underlining the need for resilient digital infrastructure capable of sustaining critical financial operations during disruptions, Inuwa averred, \u201cSubmarine cable disruption cannot automatically affect our payment system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The initiative, he stated, would help to prevent vendor lock-in and strengthen Nigeria\u2019s ability to determine the technologies and infrastructure best suited to its national interests.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, in his keynote address, Mr. Lamido Abubakar Yuguda, Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability of CBN, had reaffirmed the Bank\u2019s commitment to strengthening Nigeria\u2019s financial stability, cybersecurity and protection of critical financial data through the implementation of the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (NSCI) and data localisation.<\/p>\n<p>Yuguda commended NITDA for its leadership in advancing Nigeria\u2019s digital transformation agenda, noting that the growing adoption of digital payments, FinTech, mobile money and digital banking has increased the financial sector\u2019s dependence on digital infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>The top CBN official Aldi said financial institutions must strengthen cybersecurity, business continuity, disaster recovery and risk management arrangements, while ensuring compliance with applicable data localisation requirements and the January 1, 2027, implementation timeline for critical payment transaction data.<\/p>\n<p>The Deputy Governor of CBN emphasised that the initiative should promote innovation rather than isolate Nigeria from global technological developments, calling for stronger collaboration among regulators, financial institutions and technology providers.<\/p>\n<p>He further said: \u201cOur collective objective should be clear: to build a digital financial ecosystem that is innovative without compromising security, sovereign without becoming isolated and resilient enough to sustain public confidence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In his presentation on the pre-event survey findings,&nbsp; Dr Muhammad Aminu Lawal, Special Assistant to NITDA Director-General on Policy, disclosed that the survey has identified regulatory clarity, migration timelines and local infrastructure capacity as critical issues requiring urgent attention ahead of the January 1, 2027, deadline.<\/p>\n<p>He, however, highlighted that on the supply side, the survey indicated that Nigeria has existing capacity to support early adopters, with 79 percent of the 42 digital infrastructure and service providers surveyed reporting readiness to accommodate additional financial-sector workloads, while 74 percent said they could onboard new financial customers within three months.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Lawal stated that much of the planned infrastructure expansion is expected in 2027, with financing costs, power supply and foreign exchange identified as major constraints.<\/p>\n<p>The findings, therefore, called for clear written regulatory guidance, phased or risk-based implementation milestones, a defined exceptions process and verifiable information on assured local infrastructure providers.<\/p>\n<p>The survey underscores the need for coordinated action by NITDA, CBN and industry stakeholders to address implementation uncertainties, strengthen local digital infrastructure and support a smooth transition to Nigeria-based data hosting and management, Lawal submitted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General,&nbsp; NITDA, National Information Technology Development Agency, explains the agency&#8217;s partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria is designed to advance&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Photo: NITDA ","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_customify_content_layout":"","_customify_sidebar":"","_customify_page_header_display":"default","_customify_disable_header":"","_customify_disable_header_top":"","_customify_disable_header_main":"","_customify_disable_header_bottom":"","_customify_disable_page_title":"","_customify_disable_content_vertical_padding":"","_customify_disable_footer_top":"","_customify_disable_footer_main":"","_customify_disable_footer_bottom":"","_customify_breadcrumb_display":"","_customify_header_transparent_display":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-markets","category-regulators"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261029-WA00032.jpg",1039,551,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261029-WA00032-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261029-WA00032-300x159.jpg",300,159,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261029-WA00032-768x407.jpg",768,407,true],"large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261029-WA00032-1024x543.jpg",843,447,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261029-WA00032.jpg",1039,551,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG-20261029-WA00032.jpg",1039,551,false]},"author_info":{"info":["ConsumerConnect"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=4\" rel=\"category\">Markets<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=8\" rel=\"category\">Regulators<\/a>","tag_info":"Regulators","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5799"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5824,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5799\/revisions\/5824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}