Nigeria Loses $850m Yearly To Foreign Cloud Providers — Report

Nigeria is reportedly losing about $850 million annually to foreign cloud infrastructure providers as many local businesses continue to host critical digital operations outside the country.

The figure was disclosed in a recent industry update highlighting the growing dependence of Nigerian enterprises on cloud services based in Europe and North America, especially among banks, fintech firms, telecom operators and large corporations.

According to the report, this reliance results in significant capital outflow, as payments for cloud hosting, storage and computing services are made in foreign currency and directed to overseas providers.

It also noted that beyond the financial impact, the trend raises concerns about data sovereignty, as sensitive information belonging to Nigerian organisations is often stored under foreign legal jurisdictions.

Industry experts argue that expanding local cloud infrastructure could help reduce these losses, strengthen digital independence and support the growth of Nigeria’s emerging technology ecosystem.

Efforts are now being encouraged to develop more domestic data centres and cloud platforms capable of serving both private and public sector demand more efficiently.