NITDA deepens AI drive, targets sovereign digital economy

Nigeria is stepping up efforts to build a sovereign digital economy as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) moves to attract global technology expertise, develop indigenous artificial intelligence infrastructure and expand digital financial services for underserved Nigerians.

The agency has signed memoranda of understanding with Canadian technology companies Goose FL and Fireflies AI in Toronto, in what it described as part of a broader strategy to transfer technology, strengthen local AI capabilities and create new economic opportunities through digital innovation.

The agreements were witnessed by NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and are focused on three areas: financial inclusion, indigenous AI infrastructure and wider digital economy development.

The development comes as Nigeria seeks to deepen its digital infrastructure and human capital base as part of President Bola Tinubu’s ambition to grow the economy to $1 trillion by 2030.

NITDA said the partnerships would support innovative technology solutions capable of broadening access to digital financial services and creating sustainable economic opportunities for underserved communities.

More significantly, the agency said the agreements would support the development of indigenous AI infrastructure and services, potentially reducing Nigeria’s dependence on technologies developed, hosted and controlled outside the country.

The push is economically significant as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in financial services, business operations, government services, manufacturing and other productive sectors of the economy.

For Nigeria, developing domestic capacity in AI, cloud computing, data infrastructure and digital services could help retain more of the economic value generated by the country’s rapidly expanding technology ecosystem while creating opportunities for local firms and skilled workers.

NITDA said the partnerships were also designed to facilitate technology transfer, innovation and digital capacity development, positioning digital technology as a driver of long-term economic growth rather than simply a support function for other sectors.

The agency’s latest agreements form part of a wider programme of digital infrastructure and skills initiatives.

In June, NITDA signed an agreement with the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission to accelerate digital skills development and strengthen innovation infrastructure across the six South-West states.

The agency also partnered with TikTok to establish a Digital Commerce Lab for small and medium-sized enterprises in Lagos, supported by a $20,000 pilot Train-the-Trainer programme aimed at extending digital skills to entrepreneurs in underserved communities.

NITDA has also advanced the National Sovereign Cloud Initiative, under which it introduced the National Cloud Computing Guideline, National Cloud Technical Guideline and National Digital Infrastructure Assurance Framework, alongside a National Cloud Investment Strategy.

The initiative is intended to establish a more structured framework for cloud adoption, digital sovereignty, infrastructure assurance and investment, while positioning Nigeria as a regional hub for cloud services, data centres, artificial intelligence infrastructure and sovereign computing.

The emerging strategy reflects a recognition that control over digital infrastructure is increasingly linked to economic competitiveness, national security and investment attraction.

As more economic activity migrates online, the ability to securely store, process and analyse data within the country could become an increasingly important component of Nigeria’s economic infrastructure.

The need for such protection was underscored by a separate warning issued by the NITDA Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team over a vulnerability affecting WordPress websites.

NITDA-CERRT warned that the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-64638, could be exploited without authentication and potentially allow attackers to execute malicious PHP code, steal data, escalate privileges or gain control of affected systems.

The agency advised administrators to update WordPress Core to version 7.0.3, deploy Web Application Firewalls, use reputable security plugins, restrict access to sensitive areas and maintain regular backups.

Although the vulnerability is separate from NITDA’s technology partnerships, the warning highlights the cybersecurity risks accompanying Nigeria’s accelerating digitalisation.

For businesses and government institutions, expanding digital infrastructure without corresponding investment in cybersecurity could expose critical systems, data and economic activity to increasingly sophisticated attacks.

NITDA’s push therefore extends beyond acquiring new technologies. The broader objective is to develop the domestic skills, infrastructure, standards and security architecture required for Nigeria to capture greater economic value from the digital economy.

The agency has also introduced a National Software Quality Assurance Framework, which will require Federal Government software projects to undergo independent third-party testing and certification before deployment.

The framework is expected to become mandatory for obtaining IT Project Clearance for government software projects from the second quarter of 2027 and is designed to reduce costly technology failures, strengthen cybersecurity and improve confidence in digital public services.

Taken together, the initiatives point to a broader attempt to build the foundations of a Nigerian digital economy in which AI, cloud computing, financial technology, software development and digital skills operate within stronger domestic infrastructure.

The immediate economic test, however, will be whether these partnerships translate into measurable local investment, technology transfer, skilled employment, stronger Nigerian technology companies and wider access to productive digital services.

For an economy seeking to reach the $1 trillion mark, the ability to build and control critical digital infrastructure could increasingly determine not only how Nigeria participates in the global technology market, but how much of the value created by that market remains within the Nigerian economy.