The digital age isn’t just arriving, it’s unfolding in real time, and NITDA is at the heart of that transformation. At the NORDIC Nigeria Connect 2025 in Lagos, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director General of NITDA, shared a powerful message: the future of national growth lies in how we build, secure, and own our digital infrastructure.
For Inuwa, the conversation goes beyond cables, data centres, and servers. It’s about reimagining an entire economy — one where innovation fuels prosperity, policies drive inclusion, and digital systems empower every citizen.
He described Nigeria’s digital ambition as resting on two solid pillars, the Shared Digital Backbone and the Operational Backbone. One powers connectivity; the other powers intelligence. Together, they form the ecosystem that will make digital services efficient, accessible, and sovereign.
“True progress is not about dependency,” Inuwa noted. “It’s about digital self-determination.” The recent global cloud outage, which disrupted several African nations, served as a wake-up call, one that NITDA is addressing head-on by strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to host, protect, and scale its own digital assets.
To turn this vision into action, NITDA is driving transformation through three key enablers: Policy, People, and Partnerships.
Under Policy, frameworks like the Nigeria Startup Actand Data Protection Act ensure innovation thrives in a safe, structured environment. Under People, initiatives such as the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Programme are equipping citizens with the digital skills needed for global competitiveness. And through Partnerships, NITDA is moving from one-off collaborations to long-term alliances that attract investments, transfer knowledge, and spark innovation.
Major infrastructure projects, from Project BRIDGE, which aims to extend fibre networks to 125,000 kilometres, to the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, are laying the groundwork for resilience and connectivity. On the digital layer, tools like Nigeria Stack and OneGOV are unifying public services, identity systems, and payment platforms for seamless access and interoperability.
Meanwhile, homegrown innovation is gaining ground at the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), where initiatives like N-ATLAS, Nigeria’s indigenous large language model, are positioning the country at the forefront of AI development in Africa.
Inuwa emphasized that collaboration remains essential. The Nordic region, he said, offers a valuable partnership model, one where technology, sustainability, and inclusivity intersect. By combining Nordic precision with Nigerian ingenuity, the partnership can redefine what a digital economy in Africa looks like.
His message closed on an inspiring note: the journey toward digital sustainability is not just about technology, it’s about people, purpose, and progress. “With the right strategy, skills, and partnerships,” Inuwa declared, “we’re not just participating in the digital revolution, we’re leading it.”