NITDA backs private sector to drive cloud expansion

Nigeria has showcased its public-private digital infrastructure model at GITEX Africa in Marrakech, presenting a government-enabled, private-sector-led approach as a pathway for accelerating cloud development and strengthening Africa’s digital economy.

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Abdullahi, said the model positions the government as an enabler while allowing private companies to lead investment and innovation in critical digital infrastructure.

Speaking during a panel session titled “Africa’s Cloud Moment: Build Regional or Stay Fragmented,” Abdullahi said African countries must rethink traditional infrastructure frameworks where governments solely finance and build critical systems, arguing that sustainable digital growth now depends on structured collaboration between public institutions and industry players.

He noted that while governments historically built roads and other public infrastructure, global practice has shifted toward concession-based models in which private investors lead execution while governments provide enabling policies and regulatory frameworks.

“In Nigeria, we are encouraging a government-enabled but private-sector-led model,” Abdullahi stated, explaining that the state’s role should focus on creating policies, regulatory instruments, and incentives, while companies drive investment and innovation.

According to him, the private sector is better positioned to identify market gaps and operational challenges, making it essential for businesses to take the lead in building cloud and data infrastructure, with governments acting as conveners and facilitators.

Abdullahi pointed to collaborative industry structures in other regions, including alliances among European data centre providers that establish shared standards while receiving policy support from governments, as examples Africa could adapt to accelerate its digital transformation.

He urged industry stakeholders across the continent to engage policymakers more actively and articulate the regulatory and investment conditions required to develop what he described as a “cloud of clouds” for Africa—an interconnected regional infrastructure capable of supporting the continent’s digital economy.

The NITDA chief also warned that Africa risks repeating historical patterns from previous industrial revolutions if it fails to build and control its own digital infrastructure. He said the continent supplied raw materials and labour during earlier industrial eras and later contributed talent without owning the technologies that generated value.

“We produce the data, but others capture the value and control the intelligence,” he said, cautioning that ownership of data increasingly determines economic influence and societal direction in the digital age.

Abdullahi stressed that data sovereignty and local cloud development are critical to ensuring Africa retains economic value from its growing digital population and avoids dependence on external technology ecosystems.

GITEX Africa, currently underway in Marrakech, has brought together policymakers, technology firms, investors, and startups from across the continent and beyond to discuss strategies for accelerating Africa’s digital economy, with cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and digital trade emerging as central themes of this year’s discussions.