The Federal Government has unveiled a National Digital Cloud Policy aimed at attracting $750m in private investment within 24 months and positioning Nigeria as a major cloud computing and data-hosting hub for West Africa and the wider African market.

The policy, unveiled by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy on Monday, provides a framework for investment in data centres, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence computing capacity, while establishing new rules for government cloud adoption and the protection of sensitive public data.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani in a personally signed statement, said the policy was designed to move Nigeria beyond its role as a consumer of foreign cloud services and establish the country as a location for infrastructure, investment, skills and digital service exports.

“The Federal Government’s initial ambition is to mobilise 750m within 24 months, alongside progressive increases in compliant hosting capacity and the development of Nigeria’s regional cloud export market.

“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,” Tijani stated.

The minister said the government would maintain an open and competitive market that allowed both domestic and international cloud providers to invest and operate in Nigeria.

“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,” he said.

Tijani, however, said the government would protect sensitive public and regulated information through targeted sovereignty requirements.

“At the same time, government has a responsibility to ensure that its most sensitive digital assets are governed and secured in a manner consistent with our national interests,” he added.

The policy does not impose blanket data localisation requirements on commercial data. Instead, sovereignty provisions will apply only to defined categories of government and regulated data considered to require national control.

The government said the policy would focus on four areas: investment and market development, regional digital service exports, government cloud transformation, and digital sovereignty and security.

Under the investment component, the government will provide fiscal, regulatory and investment facilitation measures for qualifying cloud and data infrastructure projects.

These are expected to cover fiscal treatment for eligible infrastructure and equipment, regulatory coordination, measures to address energy constraints, capital mobility and export earnings, as well as technology transfer and skills development requirements.

The policy also introduces a whole-of-government cloud aggregation model under which Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies will pool their demand for cloud services from registered providers.

The government said the arrangement would reduce duplicated spending, improve its bargaining power and provide predictable demand capable of encouraging long-term private investment in local infrastructure.

A National Digital Marketplace will also be established to facilitate coordinated and transparent procurement of cloud and digital infrastructure services.

The government is targeting 750m within 24 months. Other performance targets will include growth in compliant hosting capacity, regional cloud capacity contracted from Nigeria, digital service export earnings, government migration, cost savings and skills development.

The policy is expected to support Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional exporter of digital services by facilitating cross-border data flows, regional interconnection and alignment with international standards.

The government said cloud services hosted in Nigeria should increasingly serve customers across the Economic Community of West African States and the wider African market.

On government adoption, the policy establishes a strengthened “Cloud First” approach, with shared infrastructure, coordinated procurement and aggregated demand across MDAs.

The institutional responsibilities have also been separated. The National Information Technology Development Agency will provide regulatory oversight, standards and assurance, while Galaxy Backbone Limited will handle operational delivery, shared infrastructure and aggregation. The Bureau of Public Procurement will ensure compliance with public procurement rules.

A Sovereign Government Cloud Governance Committee, chaired by the minister, will provide strategic oversight of the sovereignty framework.

Implementation will take place over 24 months. The first six months will focus on policy activation, baseline assessments, institutional arrangements and investment facilitation. Between six and 12 months, the government plans to launch the National Digital Marketplace, begin priority MDA migrations and onboard registered providers.

The final phase will involve scaling government migration, expanding infrastructure, onboarding participating states, strengthening regional interconnection and increasing digital service exports.

The policy complements the government’s Project BRIDGE, which targets at least 90,000km of additional fibre-optic infrastructure, and the 3 Million Technical Talent programme, which is developing skills in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and software engineering.

The government said the combination of connectivity, cloud infrastructure, skilled manpower, investment incentives and government demand would create an integrated digital ecosystem capable of supporting Nigeria’s economic transformation.