The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has called on West African nations to deepen collaboration toward building shared digital infrastructure and governance frameworks that will foster economic integration and self-determination across the sub-region.
Abdullahi made the call on Monday at the second West African Digital Governance Forum (WADGov) held in Abuja, which brought together representatives from 15 West African countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, and host country Nigeria.
The event was jointly organised by the United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance, in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and supported by the German Development Agency.
The initiative, now in its second year, aims to foster dialogue among West African nations, promote shared standards, and create a roadmap for regional cooperation in digital governance.
Speaking in his keynote address, Abdullahi said Africa must move beyond mere technological adoption to designing inclusive, sustainable, and citizen-focused digital ecosystems.
He said, “We are grateful to host the second meeting of the West African Digital Governance Forum, a forum established to promote digital cooperation within African countries to develop policies, strategies, and frameworks that will help us build our own digital infrastructure. Because digital today is a lifestyle.
“Our citizens are online, therefore we need to make them online as well, as a government. To make them online is not something that will happen just by accident. We need to design it, we need to be intentional about it, and we need to collaborate in building that to make sure what we are building is sustainable.
He stressed that Africa must build “digital bridges” that connect countries and allow seamless exchange of digital services, data, and innovation across borders.
According to him, achieving that vision requires regional partnerships, common standards, and policies that encourage interoperability and integration among West African nations.
The NITDA boss underscored that digital sovereignty, owning and controlling Africa’s data, was essential to the continent’s future independence and economic resilience.
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