Nigeria seeks local cloud capacity to cut data costs

The Nigerian government is pursuing a National Sovereign Cloud initiative to increase local cloud infrastructure, aiming to reduce digital service costs, retain more value from digital consumption, and create jobs. Currently, over 85% of Nigeria's workloads run on public cloud platforms hosted outside the country, leading to capital outflows and foreign-currency costs for businesses and consumers, according to NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa.

The government seeks global cloud providers to invest in local infrastructure instead of serving Nigerian customers remotely. The initiative intends to build domestic capacity for digital self-determination, ensuring uninterrupted service during international connectivity disruptions. NITDA is collaborating with local data centre operators and global cloud providers under the new National Sovereign Cloud initiative to address barriers to localisation and encourage competition.

Greater local competition is expected to put downward pressure on prices as more providers build capacity in the Nigerian market. The government is also working on a memorandum of understanding to make cloud services cheaper for startups and allow payments in naira. The push follows Nigeria's introduction of a Cloud First policy in 2019, which encouraged government ministries and private-sector organizations to use cloud services but exposed a weakness: many moved directly to international public cloud platforms.

The sovereign cloud initiative aims to encourage international technology companies to establish and expand infrastructure in Nigeria without excluding them. The government plans to develop a more resilient national cloud infrastructure with multiple locations serving as backups. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to reduce Nigeria's vulnerability to disruptions and support more locally produced content.