The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has outlined measures being adopted by the Federal Government to attract investment in data centres and other critical digital infrastructure in Nigeria.
Inuwa disclosed this while speaking at a high-level industry panel on “Converting Digital Demand into Data Centre Investment” at the recently concluded ITW Data Cloud Africa 2026.
The panel brought together industry leaders, including Ike Nnamani of Digital Realty Nigeria, Wole Abu of Equinix, Temitope Osunrinde of Africa Hyperscalers and Cherotich Kiereini of Oracle.
In a statement by the Director of Corporate Communications and Media Relations of NITDA, Mrs. Hadiza Umar, on Friday, the NITDA boss said converting Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital demand into sustainable and bankable investments required a combination of clear government policies, regulatory certainty and secure digital ecosystems.
He said government’s primary responsibility was to provide clear strategic direction and establish a stable policy environment that would give investors confidence to commit capital to digital infrastructure.
According to him, regulatory certainty would enable operators to make long-term investment decisions with a clear understanding of how digital infrastructure would be deployed, governed and utilised.
Inuwa also highlighted Nigeria’s strategic advantages in the regional digital economy, noting that the country’s value extended beyond its large population.
He said the growing demand for localised digital workloads, coupled with Nigeria’s geographical position, presented an opportunity for the country to serve as a major connectivity and transit hub for West and Central Africa.
He further pointed to Nigeria’s growing pool of technology professionals as another advantage, saying local talent could develop innovative solutions on modern digital networks and support the expansion of the country’s digital infrastructure.
The NITDA director-general also stressed the importance of cybersecurity and digital trust in attracting investment into the sector.
He said NITDA was embedding digital trust into national development through initiatives such as the Digital Assurance Framework, the Cybercrime Act and the broader National Cybersecurity Architecture.
Inuwa explained that cybersecurity measures were being applied across the digital ecosystem, from end-user devices to critical national infrastructure.
He added that government information technology projects were increasingly subjected to cybersecurity-by-design requirements and clearances to strengthen the security of digital systems.
The NITDA boss said the combination of policy clarity, regulatory predictability, connectivity, local expertise and robust cybersecurity standards would provide the foundation for Nigeria to attract the next generation of investments in data centres, cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.