National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening collaboration with the United States in building a secure, trusted, and resilient digital ecosystem, with a particular focus on data privacy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and capacity building.

NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, stated this while delivering an address at the Nigeria Data Privacy Capacity Building Workshop organised by the United States Department of State, in collaboration with the Nigerian Mission and relevant stakeholders in the digital ecosystem.

Expressing his excitement at the engagement, Inuwa described the workshop as a strong revalidation of the long-standing partnership between Nigeria and the United States in advancing the country’s technical and digital systems. According to him, the collaboration is not a new initiative
but part of a growing and deliberate effort by both countries to jointly address emerging digital challenges and opportunities.

Abdullah recalled that in April 2024, Nigeria and the United States, through the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission, agreed to work together on key areas, including data privacy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, capacity building, and other aspects of digital development.

He further noted that the same year witnessed the successful hosting of an Artificial Intelligence Conference, co-hosted by the Nigerian Government and the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, as well as Nigeria’s participation in engagements with U.S. cybersecurity companies to explore partnerships aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s technical ecosystem.

The NITDA boss stressed that building a prosperous digital economy required deliberate efforts to safeguard data privacy, strengthen security frameworks, and deploy AI responsibly.

He noted that artificial intelligence relies on data, data demands privacy, and privacy can only be guaranteed through strong security, making it impossible to address these issues in isolation.