The National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji said yesterday that the data protection and privacy ecosystem has capacity to drive Nigeria to $1trillion economy.
Dr Olatunji who said the data ecosystem is a new gold for country’s dynamic and vibrant economy, noted that within the next few years, Nigeria would reap its investments in data protection and privacy as backed by Data Protection Act 2023.
The Commissioner spoke in Abuja during a news conference to commemorate the 2025 Global Privacy Day usually celebrated on January 28.
He explained that with the implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection-Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (NDP-SRAP), coupled with localised technology adoption and global collaborations, indigenous data privacy could contribute to the growth of the economy.
“We can’t keep relying on foreign technologies for what we are doing here, so our local content must be encouraged.
“In NDPC, our platforms, the services, portal, websites are locally developed, and they are very robust enough for us to use.
“This can drive technologies and we are talking of operating a trillion dollar economy for this country that will be driven by digital technologies.
“The private ecosystem alone can convey a lot of services that are being offered and you can imagine audit file alone, registration of data controllers, reporting breaches. A lot is going on and even creating awareness through various platforms,” Dr Olatunji said.
He also encouraged startups to key into the data privacy ecosystem, adding that there were immense potential.
“All we want is for you to adapt the local laws of wherever you want to practice. The principles of data protection and security are the same worldwide and the knowledge you acquire here can take you anywhere,” he said.
Olatunji noted the immense potential in Nigeria’s data ecosystem, saying the nation’s human capital development remains critical to advancing its digital economy.
According to him, NDPC places significant focus on building capacity while encouraging the development of indigenous digital technologies to reduce reliance on foreign solutions.
He reiterated the NDPC’s commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration through initiatives that strengthen data privacy awareness, compliance and enforcement.
He said Nigeria’s acceptance into the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) and the hosting rights of the 2025 Network of African Data Protection Authorities conference was a testament that the country had demonstrated a good traction in data protection initiatives.
“Our law applies even when Nigerian data is processed outside the country and collaborating with foreign data protection agencies allows us to exchange knowledge effectively,” he explained.
Olatunji stated that the commission had in the past year engaged in series of awareness campaigns, trained 55,529 individuals on data privacy, had 5,351 capacity building programmes, among other engagements.
The Nation
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