Unitellas partners NITDA to enhance national security, data sovereignty

…Deploys edge cloud infrastructure in Nigeria

By Yinka Kolawole

Unitellas Edge Cloud, a Nigerian IT company that deals with cloud services, is collaborating with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to shape Nigeria’s digital future and enhance national security and data sovereignty.

Chief Executive Officer of Unitellas, Smith Osemeke, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Lagos, said the company is poised to achieving this with its partnership with Zadara, a leading US-based edge cloud provider, to deploy edge cloud infrastructure directly within Nigeria.

According to him, traditional public cloud services – hosted in faraway data centers in Europe or the United States – introduce significant latency, which makes them unsuitable for real-time applications such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which require instantaneous data processing.

“This local presence ensures ultra-low latency and high-volume data processing, which is especially critical in sectors like oil and gas, where real-time monitoring of drilling operations and fluid composition is essential and FSI where millions of banking transactions need to be processed instantaneously,” he stated.

Osemeke said that Unitellas is actively involved in the development of the Sovereign Cloud Policy, a strategic initiative aimed at attracting global cloud investments, ensuring that data generated within Nigeria remains within its borders, curbing capital flight, and safeguarding the nation’s critical data assets.

He further said that the company, in collaboration with Galaxy Backbone, under the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, supports the 1Government Cloud initiative, a platform which is central to the digitalization of over 700 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) through the Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS).

“This cloud infrastructure also aligns with the national mandates for Nigeria Data Protection and Sovereignty, ensuring that sensitive government data remains within national borders.”