CBN, NITDA Advance Sovereign Cloud Implementation, Data Localisation

Emma Okonji The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with Africa Hyperscalers, are pushing for Nigeria’s sovereign cloud implementation and data localisation, ahead of the January 1 2027 deadline for data hosting in Nigeria. Both government agencies made the move by bringing together, regulators, financial institutions and digital infrastructure providers to discuss issues about the implementation of Nigeria’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative (NSCI) and payment-data localisation requirements. Held in Lagos, participants at the forum, focused on the practical steps required to migrate critical financial data and workloads to secure infrastructure within Nigeria. Discussions covered implementation planning, cybersecurity, operational resilience, provider assurance, third-party risk and collaboration among regulators, financial institutions and technology providers. Opening the dialogue, the Director-General, of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, described digital sovereignty as an issue of national resilience and economic security. He explained that the objective was not to isolate Nigeria from global technology or require the country to build every system independently, but to develop sufficient capacity and control to keep essential services operating during external disruption. CBN Deputy Governor, in charge of Financial Systems Stability, Lamido Abubakar Yuguda, said critical payment transaction data must be stored and managed within Nigeria in line with the 1 January 2027 implementation timeline. He noted that the initiative should strengthen regulatory visibility, protect critical financial data and improve the resilience of the infrastructure supporting Nigeria’s payment system. Yuguda emphasised that localisation alone would not guarantee security. According to him, financial institutions and their technology partners must maintain effective cybersecurity, business continuity, disaster recovery and risk-management arrangements. Director, Payments System Supervision Department at CBN, Dr. Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, urged financial institutions to treat the implementation timeline seriously and communicate their progress. She encouraged institutions experiencing genuine migration or contractual challenges to submit their compliance plans and proposed solutions for consideration rather than delay engagement.