The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has inaugurated a Technical Working Group (TWG) to deepen regulatory collaboration and strengthen Nigeria’s framework for digital innovation through a coordinated national sandbox initiative.
Speaking at the inauguration, NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, represented by the Acting Director of Regulation and Compliance, Barrister Emmanuel Edet, said stronger inter-agency collaboration is essential to addressing regulatory bottlenecks that often slow innovation across the country’s digital ecosystem.
Inuwa said members of the Technical Working Group were selected based on their strategic institutional roles and capacity to provide practical solutions that reflect the realities of Nigeria’s rapidly evolving technology landscape.
He noted that while regulatory agencies have clear and legitimate mandates, the increasing complexity of digital technologies requires greater coordination to ensure regulation enables innovation rather than restricts it.
“As government institutions, our responsibility is to solve problems faced by Nigerians. The challenge is largely structural. Regulators often operate independently while carrying out their mandates, and in today’s digital environment, that approach presents significant limitations,” he said.
According to him, the pace of growth in the digital economy continues to outstrip traditional regulatory systems, creating gaps that can delay the deployment of innovative solutions with strong economic and social impact.
To bridge that gap, NITDA is driving a multi-agency regulatory framework aimed at improving alignment among regulators, clarifying overlapping responsibilities, and developing adaptive mechanisms that support innovation while maintaining effective oversight.
A key part of the framework is the use of regulatory sandboxes—controlled environments that allow innovators to test emerging technologies and solutions under the guidance of relevant regulators before full market entry.
“Our guiding principle is that we learn by doing. Through these sandboxes, regulators can help create safe spaces where innovation can be tested, nurtured and scaled for national benefit,” Inuwa added.
He stressed that the initiative is not designed to weaken any agency’s statutory authority but to improve coordination and build a more responsive regulatory system capable of keeping pace with technological advancement.
He added that stronger institutional collaboration will be critical to positioning Nigeria competitively in the global digital economy and unlocking innovation as a driver of inclusive growth.
Inuwa expressed confidence that the Technical Working Group would serve as a strategic platform for shaping forward-looking regulatory solutions and advancing NITDA’s broader vision of enabling digital transformation and sustainable national development.
Presenting an overview of the National Regulatory Sandbox, National Coordinator of the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), Victoria Fabunmi, described the initiative as a structured legal and multi-agency framework that allows innovators to test emerging technologies under regulatory supervision before securing full market approval.
Fabunmi said innovators across sectors including artificial intelligence, fintech, health technology and blockchain continue to face challenges caused by siloed regulations, fragmented approval processes and the absence of coordinated testing mechanisms.
She noted that while Nigeria’s digital economy has expanded significantly, limited regulatory coordination has often slowed innovation and created uncertainty for startups and technology-driven businesses.
She explained that the National Regulatory Sandbox goes beyond being a digital platform, describing it as a governance and legal framework designed to create an enabling environment where innovation can thrive responsibly.
Unlike conventional sandbox models commonly focused on financial services, Nigeria’s framework is sector-neutral, allowing regulators across agriculture, digital health, mobility, clean energy and digital public infrastructure to participate.
Under the model, startups and innovators can engage multiple regulators within a single controlled testing environment, reducing bureaucratic delays and accelerating time-to-market for emerging solutions.
Fabunmi added that the sandbox will also provide shared, evidence-based regulatory insights to help agencies make coordinated decisions and develop policies that encourage responsible innovation.
The inauguration of the Technical Working Group marks another step in NITDA’s broader efforts to build a more agile, collaborative and innovation-friendly regulatory environment in line with Nigeria’s ambition to become a leading digital economy in Africa.
