The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has partnered with global payments giant Mastercard to expand data protection capacity in the country, in a move seen as critical to strengthening Nigeria’s fast-growing digital economy.
The partnership was sealed with a Memorandum of Understanding signed during an intensive one-day workshop for Data Protection Officers (DPOs) in Abuja. It is focused on equipping professionals with practical skills in Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), as mandated by Section 28 of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA). DPIAs are vital to ensuring a risk-based approach to safeguarding personal data, a standard that is becoming increasingly important as digital services expand across sectors.
Speaking at the event, the National Commissioner of NDPC, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, said the Commission aims to train 250,000 certified DPOs every year in collaboration with partners like Mastercard. He described human capital development as central to the NDPC’s mandate, especially given the emerging nature of Nigeria’s data ecosystem.
“The data space in Nigeria is still young, still evolving,” he said. “We need to build capacity urgently so we can deliver on our regulatory mandate and deepen data privacy awareness and compliance across sectors.”
The workshop served as an opportunity to both build technical skills and reinforce the urgency of compliance in the digital age. Dr. Olatunji urged participants to take full advantage of the programme, reiterating the Commission’s commitment to ensuring that Nigeria develops a strong pool of local data protection professionals.
This strategic focus on capacity building comes amid significant growth in Nigeria’s data protection sector. According to the NDPC, the industry generated N12 billion in 2024, and is projected to reach N13.8 billion in 2025 driven largely by the rise in Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs) and growing demand for compliance services across industries.
As regulatory enforcement deepens, the NDPC disclosed that it had conducted over 1,000 investigations across key sectors, including finance and digital lending, and imposed more than N400 million in sanctions on seven companies for data breaches as of June 2024. Starting in 2025, the Commission plans to impose heavier fines on organisations found in violation of the NDPA.
In a sign of the industry’s rapid evolution, the number of jobs in the data protection field rose dramatically in 2024, with 23,000 positions created, a 127 percent increase from the previous year. Verified DPOs also increased from 1,955 in 2023 to 2,888 in 2024.
With this new partnership and ambitious training target, the NDPC is not only positioning Nigeria to meet global data governance standards but also unlocking new employment opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.
