Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) set out a goal of equipping 50 million Nigerians with digital skills by 2027 at Tech Revolution Africa 2026, in remarks reported on February 2, 2026.
The agency also said it was working with large international cloud-computing providers to support local data hosting. It presented skills development and data infrastructure as priorities during a discussion at the conference in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Okay News reports that NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi was represented by Aristotle Onumo, the agency’s director of stakeholder management and partnerships.
The session at the Landmark Event Centre examined policy and infrastructure needs for Nigeria’s digital economy.
“Talent can be anywhere in the world, but data infrastructure must be built here,” Inuwa said in the remarks delivered by Onumo.
He said local data centres were needed to give Nigeria greater control over its data infrastructure. He also cited the Nigeria Data Protection Act as part of the legal framework for safeguarding personal information.
On training, Inuwa said NITDA was working with the National Youth Service Corps, universities, other educational institutions, the civil service and private businesses. The 50 million figure was a target described at the conference, rather than a count of people who had completed training.
He also referred to the government’s Three Million Technical Talent programme, which focuses on developing technical workers.
Inuwa said support for startups depended on cooperation between government and businesses. He pointed to the Nigeria Startup Act’s incentives and recognition arrangements as mechanisms intended to help young technology companies develop.
