The federal government has launched the National Digital Cloud Policy. This framework aims to boost Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and drive economic growth.
The policy has an investment goal of $750 million over the next 24 months.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, shared this news on Tuesday. He said this effort aims to further transform Nigeria’s digital economy.
The ministry stated that through this policy, the government hopes to attract $250 million in private investment within the first year.
This investment is expected to reach $750 million within 24 months. It will also lead to increased hosting capacity and develop Nigeria’s cloud export market.
Mr Tijani explained that cloud and data infrastructure are now vital for artificial intelligence, financial services, digital government, healthcare, education and the broader digital economy.
The minister added that Nigeria wants to be more than just a consumer of global cloud services. The goal is to make Nigeria a competitive place for cloud investment, infrastructure, skills and digital services for Nigeria and Africa.
According to him, the policy offers an open and competitive framework to attract investment into cloud, data centers, and AI computing infrastructure.
This will help the government shift to secure, efficient cloud services. It will also improve the ability to host and export digital services across Africa.
"Our approach is open and focused on investment. We want Nigerian and international providers to invest, build capacity, develop talent and serve both the Nigerian market and the wider African continent from Nigeria.
“Meanwhile, the government must ensure that its sensitive digital assets are secure and governed in line with our national interests.
"The National Digital Cloud Policy provides a balanced framework that encourages investment and competition. It also strengthens local capacity, modernizes government, and applies sovereignty requirements only when truly necessary," Mr Tijani added.
Together with projects like Project BRIDGE and 3MTT, Mr Tijani stated that the policy will connect key parts of Nigeria’s digital economy. This includes everything from connectivity to computing and talent.
The policy outlines clear responsibilities for different agencies to ensure proper implementation.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will oversee regulations, standards, and assurance. Galaxy Backbone (GBB) will handle operational delivery, shared infrastructure and aggregation.
The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) will make sure everything aligns with public procurement rules.
"This separation of responsibilities aims to provide regulatory clarity and prevent conflicts between regulation, operations, and procurement," the ministry said.
A Sovereign Government Cloud Governance Committee, led by Mr Tijani, will oversee and coordinate the implementation of the sovereignty framework.
The rollout will follow a phased 24-month plan. The first six months will focus on activating the policy, assessing the baseline, giving implementation directives, setting up institutional arrangements, and facilitating investment.
In the next six to twelve months, the government will activate the National Digital Marketplace, start migrating priority MDAs, onboard registered providers, and begin regional market development.
The last twelve months will focus on scaling government migration, increasing capacity, onboarding states, enhancing regional connections, and speeding up digital service exports.
The policy sets measurable goals for implementation, including targets for private investments in Nigerian cloud and data infrastructure, installed compliant hosting capacity, regional capacity contracted from Nigeria, digital service export earnings, government migration, cost savings, and skills development.
It outlines four main priorities: market development, regional digital service exports, and government cloud transformation.
It will prioritize investment and market growth while creating a predictable and competitive environment for local and foreign investment in data centers, cloud infrastructure, connectivity, and AI computing capacity.
The policy will also focus on regional digital service exports to make Nigeria a hub for hosting, processing, and interconnecting in West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
It will also prioritize government cloud transformation by implementing a strong Cloud First approach across federal ministries, departments, and agencies. This will be supported by coordinated procurement and shared digital infrastructure.
Additionally, it will ensure digital sovereignty and security. The policy will set clear, reasonable requirements for the protection, residency, and control of certain categories of government and regulated data.
The policy maintains an open, competitive, and multi-provider cloud market, recognizing that Nigeria’s digital economy will benefit from both local and international providers.
The ministry clarified that it does not impose general data localization rules on commercial data. It stated that sovereignty requirements will only apply to specific categories of government and regulated data where national control is essential.
"A key feature of the policy is using the government’s collective purchasing power to speed up domestic infrastructure investment," the ministry concluded.
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