The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Inuwa Abdullahi, has called for a unified regulatory framework across African countries to eliminate overlapping mandates, reduce regulatory delays and create a more predictable environment for digital infrastructure investors.
Inuwa made the call while speaking at a Regulatory Roundtable session titled, “Regulations that Builds: Aligning Policy and Digital Infrastructure Investment Priorities,” held during the ITW Data Cloud Africa 2026 event.
He said foreign and domestic investors often encounter difficulties navigating multiple government agencies, stressing the need for government institutions to operate as a single, cohesive regulatory system rather than fragmented entities.
According to him, aligning government agencies internally around a single regulatory interface would eliminate duplication, accelerate licensing approvals and provide businesses with clearer and more predictable timelines for market entry.
The NITDA boss noted that the rapid convergence of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing and high-density data centres, had made traditional sector-by-sector regulatory approaches increasingly inadequate.
He said NITDA was therefore adopting a horizontal regulatory framework that provides broad standards upon which sector-specific regulators can build.
Inuwa cited Nigeria’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative as an example, explaining that the Central Bank of Nigeria leveraged NITDA’s horizontal framework to issue a single circular for the financial sector. He said the approach enabled banks to comply with digital stability requirements without obtaining separate approvals from multiple agencies.
On cross-border data transfers and regional digital markets, the NITDA Director-General advocated unified standards based on interoperability, trust and security.
He said standardised data classifications distinguishing sovereign in-country data from public and hybrid cloud assets would help African countries facilitate seamless data exchange while allowing them to recognise one another’s compliance standards without imposing redundant local procedures.
Inuwa also rejected the perception that regulatory agencies primarily view technology companies as sources of revenue, saying NITDA operates under a Regulatory Intelligence Framework designed to support business growth.
He stressed that regulation should serve as a tool for shaping economic behaviour and creating opportunities rather than functioning merely as a rigid rulebook.
According to him, NITDA does not charge for its regulations, but focuses on creating markets, developing local capacity and attracting long-term investment into the technology sector.
Other participants on the panel included Caroline Okafor of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission; Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria; Mercy Ndegwa, Director of Public Policy, East & Horn of Africa and Economic Policy Lead, Africa, Meta; and Eng. Dennis Chepkwony, Director, Universal Service Fund, Communication Authority of Kenya.
