NDPC says Nigeria’s information safety business now value N16.2 billion 

Nigeria’s information safety ecosystem has grown right into a N16.2 billion business inside simply two years of formal regulation, the Nigeria Information Safety Fee (NDPC) has disclosed.

The disclosure was made by the Nationwide Commissioner and Chief Govt Officer of the NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, throughout a media workshop and capacity-building engagement held in Lagos.

The Fee says the expansion displays rising enforcement, compliance exercise, and growing confidence in Nigeria’s digital governance framework, though the NDPC was not designed as a revenue-generating company.

Dr Olatunji defined that regulatory compliance charges and enforcement actions beneath the Nigeria Information Safety Act (NDPA), 2023, have created important financial worth whereas additionally contributing to authorities income and job creation throughout the nation.

What Olatunji is saying 

The NDPC says the income recorded up to now displays a transparent shift from advisory regulation to enforcement-driven compliance beneath the NDPA.

Based on the Fee, regulatory charges and sanctions have contributed over N5.2 billion to federal income whereas supporting an estimated 23,000 jobs nationwide.

“These investigations have resulted in 11 main enforcement actions, together with important monetary penalties and corrective directives.” 

“The message is obvious: violations of knowledge privateness will entice severe penalties, whatever the dimension or standing of the organisation concerned,”  Olatunji said. 

Olatunji mentioned the Fee has concluded 246 investigations into information safety and privateness breaches throughout a number of sectors, signalling that enforcement will stay central to Nigeria’s information governance technique.

Flashback 

Nigeria’s information safety enforcement drive gained nationwide consideration in July final yr when the NDPC imposed a N766.2 million effective on MultiChoice Nigeria.

The penalty was linked to intrusive and disproportionate information practices, together with the illegal cross-border switch of subscribers’ private information with out enough safeguards.

• MultiChoice Nigeria was sanctioned for violating core provisions of the NDPA referring to consent and information minimisation.
• Fidelity Bank was fined N555.8 million in 2024 for processing private information with out knowledgeable consent.
• The bank was additionally penalised for deploying non-transparent cookies on its digital platforms and interesting non-compliant third-party information processors.

Based on the NDPC, these landmark enforcement actions have strengthened regulatory credibility, deterred non-compliance, and bolstered belief in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital ecosystem.

Extra insights 

The NDPC Commissioner linked the Fee’s enforcement milestones to Nigeria’s broader ambition of constructing a $1 trillion digital economic system.

He pressured that accountability and belief are foundational to digital transformation and long-term funding.

“Privateness enforcement is the inspiration of digital confidence. By holding violators accountable, we’re safeguarding residents whereas creating the safe atmosphere required for innovation, funding and sustainable progress,” he mentioned. 

• Olatunji mentioned the Fee has considerably expanded compliance constructions throughout the economic system to help this goal, shifting past sanctions to system-wide institutional strengthening.
• The NDPC has registered 38,677 Information Controllers and Processors of Main Significance, licensed 307 Information Safety Compliance Organisations, and acquired greater than 8,155 Compliance Audit Returns.
• As well as, the Fee has issued the Basic Utility and Implementation Directive, which takes impact from September 2025, translated the NDPA into three main Nigerian languages, and launched a multi-sector compliance sweep masking banking, insurance coverage, pensions, and gaming, with 1,348 entities already served with compliance notices.

What you need to know 

Nigeria’s information safety business acquired a significant coverage increase in June 2023 following the signing of the Nigeria Information Safety Invoice into legislation by President Bola Tinubu.

On the time, Dr Vincent Olatunji disclosed that the sector had contributed N5.5 billion to Nigeria’s Gross Home Product (GDP).

• The Nigeria Information Safety Act, 2023, formally established the NDPC because the nation’s lead information safety authority.
• The legislation launched stricter compliance necessities for organisations dealing with private information.
• It additionally offered a authorized basis for sanctions, audits, and cross-border information switch controls.