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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is calling for increased investment in Nigeria’s data centre infrastructure as the country’s expanding digital economy drives greater demand for computing, storage and connectivity capacity.
NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, made the call during a panel session titled “Converting Digital Demand into Data Centre Investment” at the recently concluded ITW Data Cloud Africa 2026.
The session brought together industry executives from Digital Realty Nigeria, Equinix, Africa Hyperscalers and Oracle to examine how rising demand for digital services could translate into investment in the infrastructure needed to support cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other data-intensive technologies.
NITDA calls for regulatory certainty
Inuwa said Nigeria needed clear government policies, regulatory certainty and secure digital ecosystems to convert its growing digital footprint into sustainable infrastructure investment.
He said government’s role should extend beyond establishing policies to creating an environment capable of actively encouraging investment across the technology ecosystem.
“The primary responsibility of the 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,” Inuwa said.
According to him, regulatory certainty would give investors greater confidence to commit capital to digital infrastructure by providing clarity around how infrastructure would be deployed, governed and consumed.
“By giving investors full regulatory certainty, operators can build with confidence, knowing precisely how infrastructure will be deployed, governed, and consumed across the market,” Inuwa said.
Data centres critical to digital economy
Data centres provide the computing, storage and connectivity infrastructure underpinning modern digital services, including cloud platforms and increasingly data-intensive technologies such as artificial intelligence.
As businesses, governments and consumers become more dependent on digital platforms, reliable and scalable infrastructure is becoming increasingly important to the growth and resilience of the digital economy.
Inuwa said Nigeria’s investment proposition extends beyond the size of its population, pointing to the growing demand for localised digital workloads, the country’s geographical position and its expanding pool of technology talent.
He said Nigeria could leverage its location to develop into a major transit and connectivity hub for West and Central Africa while using its technology workforce to build solutions on modern digital networks.
Cybersecurity becomes part of investment proposition
The NITDA Director-General also identified cybersecurity and digital trust as critical components of the infrastructure needed to attract and retain technology investment.
He said NITDA was embedding digital trust into national development through initiatives and frameworks including the Digital Assurance Framework, the Cybercrime Act and the broader National Cybersecurity Architecture.
According to Inuwa, government information technology projects are now subject to cybersecurity-by-design clearances, covering infrastructure ranging from last-mile devices to critical national infrastructure.
The approach is intended to ensure that security considerations are incorporated into digital infrastructure from the planning and development stages rather than addressed only after deployment.
Inuwa said these policy and security measures were designed to provide the predictable foundation required to support long-term investment in data centres, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence.
Industry weighs investment opportunities
The panel provided an opportunity for industry stakeholders to examine the infrastructure requirements emerging from Nigeria’s digital growth and the conditions needed to unlock additional private-sector investment.
Participants included Ike Nnamani of Digital Realty Nigeria, Wole Abu of Equinix, Temitope Osunrinde of Africa Hyperscalers and Cherotich Kiereini of Oracle.
As demand for cloud services, AI applications and digital platforms continues to grow, the ability to provide reliable local computing and storage capacity will remain central to Nigeria’s ambitions to deepen its digital economy and strengthen its position within Africa’s technology infrastructure ecosystem.
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