The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have intensified efforts to move Nigeria’s financial sector towards sovereign cloud infrastructure, as part of measures to strengthen data protection, cybersecurity and digital sovereignty.
The initiative is aimed at ensuring that critical financial information remains within Nigeria’s jurisdiction while improving the security and resilience of the country’s banking and payment systems.
The development was disclosed at the Executive Regulatory Dialogue on National Cloud Strategy Implementation (NSCI) and Data Localisation, organised by Africa Hyperscalers in Lagos. The meeting brought together commercial banks, fintech companies, payment service providers, cloud operators, data centres and cybersecurity firms.
Speaking at the event, NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, described digital sovereignty as essential to Nigeria’s national resilience and economic security.
He clarified that the initiative was not intended to isolate Nigeria from global technology but to develop local capacity and maintain control over critical digital infrastructure, particularly during external disruptions.
Similarly, CBN Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability, Lamido Abubakar Yuguda, said critical payment transaction data must be stored and managed within Nigeria, in line with the January 1, 2027 implementation deadline.
He, however, warned that data localisation alone would not guarantee security, stressing the importance of cybersecurity, disaster recovery, business continuity and effective risk management.
The Director of CBN’s Payments System Supervision Department, Dr Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, urged financial institutions to take the deadline seriously and communicate their implementation progress to the apex bank.
A readiness survey involving 89 organisations revealed that 59 per cent of participating financial institutions expected to meet the deadline, while 74 per cent of infrastructure providers said they could onboard new customers within three months.
The transition is expected to strengthen local technology capacity, create employment opportunities and improve Nigeria’s digital competitiveness.
CBN, NITDA Push Financial Institutions Towards Sovereign Cloud Adoption
