Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kaspersky Global, a leading name in cybersecurity, to strengthen Nigeria’s cybersecurity ecosystem. The agreement was formalised last week during IT exhibition and conference GITEX Nigeria 2025 in Lagos.

Through this partnership, Kaspersky says it will support training programmes to build local cyber capacity, collaborate with NITDA on public awareness campaigns including its Cybersecurity Alphabet initiative, and engage in joint research and analysis to boost cyber defence literacy nationwide.

The MoU also paves the way for intelligence sharing on threats and attacks affecting Nigerian citizens, government, and digital infrastructure. Furthermore, Kaspersky says it will provide strategic advisory input to guide NITDA in developing strong frameworks and standards for protecting the nation’s critical information infrastructure.

The Ecofin news agency points out that the partnership comes as Nigeria faces an estimated US$500 million in annual losses due to cybercrime, highlighting the growing financial impact of digital threats in a rapidly transforming economy.

It says that in 2024 Nigerian police reported apprehending 751 individuals involved in cybercrime activities and that, in May this year, the country signed an MoU with the United Kingdom to enhance the efficiency of its judicial system in combating cybercrime by streamlining administrative processes.

Nigeria also participated in Interpol’s Operation Serengeti 2.0, conducted from August 2024 to June 2025, which resulted in the arrest of 1,209 cybercriminals across 18 African nations and the recovery of approximately $100 million.

Domestically, Nigeria enacted an amended version of its 2015 Cybercrime Act in 2024, including the establishment of sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs), clarification of cyber-harassment provisions, and the introduction of a cybersecurity tax to fund national initiatives.