Last week at GITEX Nigeria 2025 in Lagos, a significant partnership was formed to bolster Nigeria’s cybersecurity landscape. The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kaspersky Global, a leading name in cybersecurity. This agreement was formalized by the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and Chris Norton, Kaspersky’s General Manager for Africa.
Photo Credit: NITDA X Page
What Does This Partnership Mean?
Through this MoU, Kaspersky will:
- Support training programs to develop local cybersecurity talent.
- Collaborate with NITDA on public awareness campaigns, including the Cybersecurity Alphabet initiative.
- Engage in joint research and analysis to enhance cyber-defense literacy nationwide.
- Facilitate intelligence sharing on threats targeting citizens, government systems, and critical infrastructure.
- Provide strategic advisory support to strengthen standards and frameworks safeguarding Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
Why Is This Important?
Nigeria’s cyber threat landscape is already very active, and the statistics are alarming. A study reported that 71% of Nigerian organizations were victims of cyber-attacks in 2021with 44% paying an average of $3.43 million in ransom to protect their operations (SSRN, 2022). Another analysis highlighted that in 2020, Nigeria lost $800 million to cybercrime (Bruce, Lusthaus, Kashyap, Phair, & Varese, 2024).). Financial institutions and consumers are the primary victims, but the broader economy also suffers.
There have been dangerous exposure stories as well. In one case, a public healthcare agency’s unsecured data bucket leaked personal information of 37,000 people, and it took nearly four months to fix(Wired, 2022). These realities show that cybersecurity in Nigeria is a pressing concern and not a distant future problem.
The Impact of the MoU
This MoU is a meaningful step toward building genuine defenses through local capacity, public literacy, and policy influence. It’s about combining global expertise with national commitment to secure the country’s digital future. For professionals, it means better training, local research, and shared threat intelligence. For everyday Nigerians, it means broader and more accessible awareness initiatives, stronger data protection, and increased trust in our systems.
How You Can Contribute
Cybersecurity is for everyone, and here’s how you can rise to that responsibility:
- Keep learning: Stay informed about such initiatives.
- Boost your skills: If you’re in tech (or curious to be), these programs may open mentorship or training paths for you.
- Practice good cyber hygiene: Strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, cautious clicking, and updated systems still save lives (digital ones, anyway).
- Share what matters: Forward awareness tools to friends, family, and colleagues.