The National Assembly has confirmed working to boost Nigeria’s technology space with the National Digital Economy bill. Speaking with The Guardian at the just-concluded GITEX Global event in Dubai, the Senate Committee Chairman on ICT, Salisu Afolabi, stated that as activities pick up at the legislature, the bill would undergo a second reading and public hearing, where stakeholders would make input.

He observed that “the outcome of that stakeholders’ engagement from the public hearing will shape the bill. This will ensure that the law that emanates from it will be one that will ensure that Nigeria’s digital space is conducive to the digital economy, that government agencies digitised our processes, and that some of the laws that seem archaic in view of the developments in the technology space are also brought to light in the new reality.”

Indeed, the National Digital Economy and e-Governance Bill 2024 seeks to enhance Nigeria’s digital economy and e-governance frameworks by setting out robust regulations and standards for electronic transactions, digital signatures, electronic contracts, and electronic records retention.

Salisu went on to say that the Assembly was also taking a fresh look at the Cybercrime Act, with the hope of re-fortifying it to meet the current state of things globally.

The chairman said recently, the committee, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Justice, European Union and others, had a three-day intensive engagement to look at what is obtainable in other parts of the world, including the Budapest Convention, United Nations law, global conventions on cybercrime and security, “to see how we can fortify the system in Nigeria.”

He continued: “But as we do so, we are also mindful that as a sovereign country, we have a peculiar situation, we will see what is available globally and tailor some to our peculiar environment. So, as we are coming out with the National Digital Economy and eGovernance Bill, we are also strengthening the environment to ensure that we have a safe, secure and reliable environment for the digital economy to thrive and investments to come in.”

On Nigeria’s readiness to host GITEX next year, Salisu said hosting is never going to be an issue with the country, boasting that the nation had hosted a lot of programmes, and games that require more physical infrastructure, adding: “What we are talking about now is a digital programme, Nigeria is ready. Lagos is home to the largest startup ecosystem in Africa. Abuja has hosted the Commonwealth and others. Nigeria is ready. We will set new standards for GITEX Global.”

On his part, the National Commissioner, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji, assured of data protection come GITEX Nigeria 2025.

“What we are talking about is about data and more importantly, personal data. Any country that is ready for digital business functions must be ready to put in place measures to secure the personal data of their citizens or investors. This is the reason the Nigerian government has put in place the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 signed by President Bola Tinubu last year to ensure there is trust and confidence in the economy, and going further to also set up an independent data protection authority to enforce the law, so that digital protection implemented, most especially in the areas of cross-border data transfers, especially as we call on investors to come and invest in the country,” he added.