Ayotunde Coker, managing director, Open Access Data Centres has reiterated availability of abundant capacity and world-class infrastructure in key data centres in Nigeria.

This is coming against the backdrop of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive to banks, fintechs, mobile money operators, and other payment service providers to host their payment transaction data generated within Nigeria on local servers from January 1st, 2027.

Mr. Coker made the assertion at a media interactive session on readiness of major data centres in the country such as Open Access Data centres to effectively host financial sector data.

“As far as readiness is concerned, we have the co-location base, the co-infrastructure basis, and interconnection capability. Indigenous cloud companies are building out, such companies like Unicloud Africa, Layer 3 within the data centres, adding cloud capability, and providing cloud solutions to local companies.

“The other key thing with the directive is that it sends a signal to the world that data sovereignty localization is key. And will also trigger the global providers to bring their own scale of cloud in here in time, which is good for building our digital infrastructure scale”.

The CBN directive signed by the Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, Rakiya Yusuf, also introduced new market structure rules, beneficial ownership disclosure requirements and systemic oversight measures for payment service operators.

According to the apex bank, the reforms became necessary following the rapid expansion of electronic payments and digital financial services across the country.

The CBN said it had observed “significant structural developments within the Nigerian Payments ecosystem, characterized by rapid growth in electronic payments, increasing adoption of digital financial services, and the emergence of operators with substantial market presence across key payment activities.”

It noted that while the growth had improved innovation, efficiency and financial inclusion, it had also created concerns around market concentration, operational dependence, ownership transparency and the storage of critical payments data.

To address these concerns, the regulator ordered all financial institutions facilitating payments in Nigeria to ensure that transaction data generated within the country are stored domestically.

The circular stated, “All Financial Institutions and participants facilitating payments within Nigeria shall ensure that payments transaction data generated within Nigeria are stored and managed in Nigeria in accordance with data protection laws and regulations applicable in Nigeria.”

It added that “all affected Financial Institutions shall fully comply with this requirement effective January 1, 2027.”

The move is expected to strengthen regulatory oversight, enhance data sovereignty and ensure that sensitive payment information remains within Nigeria’s jurisdiction.

It also aligns with broader efforts by regulators globally to localise critical financial data and reduce reliance on offshore infrastructure.

Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria has thrown its weight behind the Nigerian Communications Commission’s push for local smartphone manufacturing, saying the initiative could significantly boost digital inclusion, create jobs and position Nigeria as a technology manufacturing hub.

ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, gave the endorsement on Saturday while reacting to the call by the Chairman of the NCC Governing Board, Idris Olorunnimbe, for increased local smartphone production and innovative financing models to make devices more affordable.

Adebayo described the proposal as a practical response to one of the biggest barriers to digital inclusion in Nigeria, noting that smartphone affordability had overtaken network coverage and data costs as the major obstacle to broadband adoption.

He said Nigeria must deliberately shift from being a consumer of technology to becoming a producer, innovator and exporter of digital technologies.

“Our ambition should extend beyond assembling devices. We must pursue genuine knowledge transfer, research and development, product engineering, software development, semiconductor capabilities and large-scale manufacturing,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria possesses the population size, telecommunications market and youthful workforce needed to build a globally competitive technology manufacturing industry.

He said the country’s long-term objective should be to produce smartphones and other digital technologies not only for domestic consumption but also for export across Africa and the global market.

Adebayo said the emergence of Artificial Intelligence had further strengthened Nigeria’s opportunity to become a major technology manufacturing destination.

He explained that AI was already transforming manufacturing through improved product design, quality assurance, supply chain management and customer experience.

He noted that investments in AI-enabled production would improve productivity, create high-value jobs and strengthen Nigeria’s competitiveness.

The telecom operators’ chairman also backed the NCC’s proposal to tackle the proliferation of counterfeit and non-type-approved devices.

He described the grey market as a major challenge affecting consumers, original equipment manufacturers and the telecommunications ecosystem.

According to him, robust local manufacturing supported by strong quality standards and effective type approval would provide credible alternatives to substandard imported devices while boosting consumer confidence.

“This will strengthen consumer protection, improve network performance, retain greater value within our economy and stimulate industrial growth,” he said.

Adebayo further endorsed innovative smartphone financing models, improved device management systems and identity-enabled credit frameworks, saying they would enable more Nigerians to own quality smartphones through affordable payment plans.

He said telecom operators were ready to partner with the government, manufacturers, financiers, investors, academia and development partners to establish a sustainable local manufacturing ecosystem.

“The initiative represents a national economic transformation agenda capable of creating jobs and strengthening Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy,” he added.

Olorunnimbe had, during the Digital Africa Summit Roundtable in Shanghai, argued that Nigeria’s biggest digital inclusion challenge was no longer network coverage or data affordability but the high cost of smartphones.

He urged coordinated efforts involving local manufacturing, trusted devices, financing and policy reforms to accelerate broadband penetration and unlock the country’s digital economy.

Nigerian government has opened a high-stakes window of opportunity for international tech investors, offering direct presidential intervention and sweeping economic waivers for hardware companies that anchor their manufacturing hubs in Nigeria by November 2026.

Chief Idris Ibikunle Olorunnimbe

Chief Idris Ibikunle Olorunnimbe, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), made this groundbreaking declaration during his ministerial-level address at the Digital Africa Summit Roundtable in Shanghai.

Highlighting the government’s total dedication to backing these new factories, Olorunnimbe stated: “Whatever it takes to get the plant standing, we will pursue it together, because every factory that rises in Nigeria grows our economy, employs our young people, and brings the price of a phone closer to what an ordinary Nigerian can pay”.

The offer is designed to stimulate immediate foreign direct investment and create sustainable employment for Nigeria’s teeming youth population.

The economic logic underwriting this regulatory ultimatum is both practical and urgent. Currently, the Nigerian telecommunications ecosystem is highly vulnerable to external economic shocks, with foreign-exchange swings and import duties constantly pushing genuine, formal devices out of reach for average citizens.

By localising the supply chain, the NCC seeks to anchor device pricing to the local currency, stripping away the pricing volatility tied to the US Dollar.

Olorunnimbe candidly stated that the administration is ready to deploy massive executive support, viewing connectivity infrastructure as the central engine of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, which treats “connectivity as productive infrastructure for the whole economy rather than a luxury for a few”.

This infrastructural push is designed to directly fuel the NCC’s highly praised initiative to transition Nigeria into an era of digital free education through the zero-rating of educational portals.

Drawing inspiration from classic free education philosophies, Olorunnimbe has previously stated that asking a child to buy data to look at a textbook is the modern equivalent of charging tuition at the gates of a public school.

To operationalise this vision, the proposed locally assembled smartphones, MiFi units, and home routers will come pre-configured with embedded access to these zero-rated educational platforms. This ensures that digital literacy tools are structurally hardwired into the technology from the factory floor.

Additionally, these indigenous devices will come pre-installed with core government application portals, simplifying access to digital identity verifications, public health services, and agricultural extensions. By embedding these essential state services directly onto affordable, locally produced hardware, the NCC is solving the double dilemma of device cost and data expenses simultaneously.

This holistic blueprint bridges the digital divide and accelerates financial inclusion, as verifiable identity frameworks, like the NIN and BVN, will allow citizens to seamlessly transition into credit-linked device-financing schemes. Olorunnimbe noted that by pairing “verifiable identity with credit history and secure device technology, then the phone itself becomes the on-ramp: to a credit record, and then to the wider financial system”.

The visionary posturing of Chief Olorunnimbe and the executive leadership of the NCC mark a paradigm shift in how government agencies foster industrial growth. Rather than relying solely on traditional, rigid enforcement against informal markets, the Commission is actively building a structured, credible marketplace via policy incentives and strategic executive support.

Through this aggressive, forward-looking roadmap, the NCC is firmly establishing Nigeria as the digital powerhouse of the African continent, demonstrating that true digital inclusion is achieved when national infrastructure serves human development.