Abuja, Nigeria – The Governments of Finland and the Federal Republic of Nigeria have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on digitalisation and innovation, with a strong focus on cybersecurity as Nigerian organisations face one of the highest volumes of cyberattacks in Africa.
Okay News reports that the agreement was announced in a statement by Isime Esene, Special Assistant to Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and was signed in Abuja on March 23 by Minister Bosun Tijani and Finland’s Under Secretary of State for International Trade, Jarno Syrjälä, following earlier talks in Helsinki.
The Memorandum of Understanding aims to deepen cooperation in digital government, emerging technologies, digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, innovation ecosystems and capacity building, reflecting a shared goal to use digital transformation to drive sustainable growth, better public services and inclusive innovation.
Minister Bosun Tijani said the deal marks an important step in strengthening Finland Nigeria collaboration around a more inclusive, innovation driven digital economy, describing it as a significant next phase after February meetings with institutions such as Finnvera and Finnfund on digital infrastructure, Nigeria’s Data Exchange Platform and potential Finnish involvement in Project BRIDGE.
He added that the Nigerian government believes the partnership will open meaningful opportunities for both countries, allowing them to leverage digital transformation as a catalyst for sustainable development and shared prosperity across societies and businesses.
Under Secretary of State Jarno Syrjälä said Finland is pleased to deepen its partnership with Nigeria in building resilient, secure and human centric digital societies, stressing that digitalisation works best when it empowers people, strengthens trust and creates room for new innovation.
Syrjälä noted that Nigeria is a key partner for Finland in Africa and said the Memorandum of Understanding provides a solid basis for practical cooperation between public institutions and private sector players in both countries on future ready, interoperable digital solutions that benefit each nation.
According to Nigeria’s communications ministry, the new Memorandum complements existing Finland Nigeria ties in the digital space, including Finland’s lead role in the European Union’s Team Europe Initiative that supports digital public services and inclusive digital skills programmes in Nigeria, delivered by Finland’s development agency HAUS with Estonia’s ESTDEV.
The Finnish Nigeria MoU comes as cyber risk intensifies in Nigeria, where organisations recorded an average of 4,701 cyberattacks per organisation per week in January 2026, the highest level in Africa and a 12 per cent increase from December 2025, according to a Global Threat Intelligence Report by Check Point Research.
Government, financial services and consumer goods and services are among the most targeted sectors, prompting Nigerian authorities to prepare a new cybersecurity framework that will mandate minimum cybersecurity spending levels for organisations operating in the country in order to curb rising, AI driven threats against banks, businesses and public agencies.
