Nairobi: Red tape, overlapping mandates, and regulatory delays may soon be a thing of the past for digital infrastructure investors across Africa, as the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, makes a firm push for a unified regulatory front. 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, Inuwa addressed the friction that foreign and domestic investors encounter when navigating multiple government agencies. During the session, Inuwa emphasised that investors want to see the government act as a single, cohesive unit rather than a web of fragmented institutions. He explained that aligning government agencies internally to establish a single regulatory interface would eliminate duplications, accelerate licensing approvals, and give businesses predictable timelines when entering the market. As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and high-density data centers converge, traditional vertical regulations are no longer sufficient. To address this, NITDA is adopting horizontal regulatory framework—broad standards that sector-specific watchdogs can build upon. Inuwa pointed to Nigeria’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative as a prime example, noting how the Central Bank of Nigeria leveraged NITDA’s horizontal framework to issue a single circular for the financial sector. This approach allowed banks to comply with digital stability rules without needing to secure separate approvals from multiple agencies. Expanding his vision to cross-border data transfers and regional markets, the NITDA boss called for 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, African nations can facilitate seamless data exchange and recognise each other’s compliance standards without redundant local procedures. Inuwa also tackled concerns that regulatory bodies view tech firms primarily as revenue sources. He affirmed that NITDA operates 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, he reiterated that NITDA does not charge for its regulations, focusing instead on creating markets, building local capacity, and attracting long-term investment. Also with the DG on the panel 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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