Bosun Tijani unveils National Digital Cloud Policy, targets $750 million investments

The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, has unveiled the National Digital Cloud Policy, targeting $750 million in private investment within 24 months.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, on Monday and shared with Nairametrics.

The development comes days after the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) signed key regulatory documents under Nigeria’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (NSCI), aimed at establishing a trusted cloud ecosystem and strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure.

What the Minister is saying

According to Tijani, the policy represents a major component of the Federal Government’s broader digital economy agenda and provides a coordinated framework to attract investment into cloud and data centre infrastructure.

According to him, the policy will position Nigeria as a regional digital services and hosting hub, modernise government service delivery, strengthen indigenous digital capability, and establish proportionate safeguards for government and regulated data.

• “The Federal Government’s initial ambition is to mobilise US$250 million in private investment within the first 12 months, rising to US$750 million within 24 months, alongside progressive increases in compliant hosting capacity and the development of Nigeria’s regional cloud export market,” the statement partly reads.

The policy establishes four priorities: Investment and market development, Regional digital services exports, Government cloud transformation, and Digital sovereignty and security.

He stated that a central feature of the policy is the use of the government’s collective purchasing power to accelerate domestic infrastructure investment.

• “Under the whole-of-government aggregation framework, Government will aggregate demand for cloud capacity from multiple registered providers and provide shared government cloud services.
• “This approach is designed to reduce duplicated expenditure, secure better commercial terms for Government and create predictable anchor demand capable of supporting long-term private investment in Nigerian digital infrastructure,” the statement partly reads.

The Minister stated that Nigeria must move from being primarily a consumer of global cloud infrastructure to becoming a competitive location for the infrastructure, investment, skills and digital services that will define the next phase of the global digital economy.

• “Our approach is deliberately open and investment-oriented. 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.
• “The National Digital Cloud Policy therefore provides a balanced framework — one that promotes investment and competition, strengthens indigenous capability, modernises Government and applies sovereignty requirements only where they are genuinely necessary,” he added.

More details

Under the policy, NITDA will provide regulatory oversight, standards and assurance.

• Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) is expected to lead operational delivery, shared infrastructure and aggregation, while the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) will ensure alignment with public procurement requirements.

This separation of responsibilities, according to the Minister, is intended to provide regulatory certainty and avoid conflicts between regulatory, operational and procurement functions.

Furthermore, a Sovereign Government Cloud Governance Committee, chaired by the Minister, will provide strategic oversight and whole-of-government coordination for the implementation of the sovereignty framework.

• “The first six months will focus on policy activation, baseline assessments, implementation directives, institutional arrangements and investment facilitation. Between six and twelve months, Government will operationalise the National Digital Marketplace, commence priority MDA migrations, onboard registered providers and begin regional market-development activities.
• “The subsequent twelve months will focus on scaling government migration, expanding capacity, onboarding participating states, strengthening regional interconnection and accelerating digital service exports,” the statement added.

The policy implementation will proceed through a phased 24-month roadmap.

What you should know

The push for a sovereign cloud framework comes as Nigeria faces growing cybersecurity risks alongside rapid digital transformation.

In May, NITDA, through its Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT.NG), issued an advisory on DeepLoad, an artificial intelligence-powered malware it said was targeting government agencies, financial institutions, businesses and individuals.

The agency’s warning highlighted the increasing sophistication of cyber threats facing organisations as more critical services move online, reinforcing the need for stronger digital infrastructure protection, security standards and governance frameworks.