Chairman, NITRA Technology Forum 2021 and CEO, Internet exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), Mr. Muhammed Rudman, has hailed the media reportage of the industry by members of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) over the years.
Speaking as the forum in Lagos on Thursday, he said “We are not there yet, hence the need to sustain the sensitization! With NITRA now raising the flag higher and directed at achieving 30% growth from the existing 60%, over 80% of Nigeria’s Internet traffic should be locally be accessible by 2024.
“The NITRA Technology Forum 2021 is a one-day event aimed at bringing together Web hosting companies, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Data Centres, Web developers, IT Entrepreneurs and academics from the ICT community in Nigeria to discuss, educate and promote the adoption of local hosting in Nigeria. The forum will provide the opportunity for all to learn from industry experts, engage with sponsors and professionals as well as gain business opportunities in the hosting business.
“We need to always remember that Nigeria has the population to grow any business of its choice. We need to focus and plan on how to develop our ICT infrastructure and harness the assets in order to unlock the potential of our huge population. As you are aware, data is the new oil, usually coined as “Data is the King”. The reality is that data is the economic engine of the Internet. With billions of US dollars invested annually across the globe towards cloud infrastructure by private and public entities, Nigeria must strive to become the hub for Internet content in Africa not just content consumers.
“Local hosting is critical for any country that wishes to develop its internet infrastructure and empower its citizens as well as ensure national data sovereignty. Nigerian government realization of the cloud localization brought about the National Cloud Computing Policy by NITDA in 2019, which is aimed at promoting the migration of National Data to local cloud with a goal of achieving 30% by the end of 2024. Some years back the Federal Government of Nigeria also setup Galaxy Backbone PLC, a company empowered to provide Internet and hosting services for government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Local hosting in Nigeria will reduce the huge capital flight. This reduction in capital flight will also lead to higher quality of service as local hosting enables websites run about three (3) times faster than those hosting overseas because of ultralow latency.
“Hosting of content locally will further strengthen the cyber security of the country, as the passing of data between local networks would be within our national borders. It will also ensure business continuity as Nigeria is dependent on submarine cables when hosting internationally. These submarine cables are prone to damages by passing ships or due to natural disasters such as a Tsunamis which will definitely mean a disruption to information flow.
