Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency, has emphasised that investors should seek a single, cohesive unit with a single regulatory interface, rather than a web of fragmented government institutions, to eliminate duplications, accelerate licensing approvals, and give businesses predictable timelines
Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director-General of Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has boldly pushed for a unified regulatory front to further drive digital investment on the African continent.
According to NITDA, Inuwa harped on the continent’s push for the “one government, one interface” system, which might soon end instances of red tape, overlapping mandates, and regulatory delays for digital infrastructure investors across Africa’s ecosystem.
The Director-General of Nigeria’s IT sector regulatory agency stated this while speaking during the Regulatory Roundtable session on, “Regulations that Builds: Aligning Policy and Digital Infrastructure Investment Priorities” at the ITW Data Cloud Africa 2026 event, held in Nairobi, Kenyan capital.
He equally addressed the friction that foreign and domestic investors encounter when navigating multiple government agencies.
Inuwa: Investors want government to act as single, cohesive unit NITDA said during the session, Inuwa also emphasised that investors would like to see the government act as a single, cohesive unit rather than a web of fragmented institutions.
Inuwa explained that aligning government agencies internally with establish a single regulatory interface would eliminate duplications, accelerate licensing approvals, and give businesses predictable timelines when entering the market.
Impacts of emerging technologies on traditional regulations
It is noted that as emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Computing, and high-density data centres converge, traditional vertical regulations are no longer sufficient.
However, in order to address this, NITDA is adopting horizontal regulatory framework—broad standards that sector-specific watchdogs can build upon.
Inuwa, in his submission at the forum, as well referenced Nigeria’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative as a prime example.
He explained how the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) leveraged NITDA’s horizontal framework to issue a single circular for the financial sector of the country’s economy.
According to him, the CBN’s approach allowed banks to comply with digital stability rules without needing to secure separate approvals from multiple agencies.
The need for seamless data exchange, standards
Expanding his vision to cross-border data transfers and regional markets, the NITDA Chief Executive advocated unified standards, based on interoperability, trust, and security.
By establishing standardised data classifications that clearly separate sovereign in-country data from public or hybrid cloud assets, he stressed that African countries could facilitate seamless data exchange, and recognise one another’s compliance standards without redundant local procedures.
Inuwa further tackled concerns that regulatory bodies view technology firms primarily as revenue sources.
The NITDA experience, by Director-General
The Director-General disclosed that NITDA has operated under a Regulatory Intelligence Framework designed to enable business growth rather than extract revenues. Viewing regulation as a tool to shape economic behaviour rather than a rigid rulebook, Inuwa restated that the Nigerian IT sector regulatory agency does not charge for its regulations.
Instead, NITDA focuses on creating markets, building local capacity, and attracting long-term investment, stated he.
Along with Inuwa on the panel in Nairobi were Caroline Okafor, Legal Enforcement and Regulation, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC); Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON); Mercy Ndegwa, Director, Public Policy, East & Horn of Africa/Economic Policy Lead, Africa, Meta; and Eng. Dennis Chepkwony, Director, Universal Service Fund, Communication Authority of Kenya.
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