The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has generated more than N12 billion in revenue and helped create over 27,000 jobs within three years, as the country’s data protection industry expands alongside the growth of the digital economy.
Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner of the NDPC, disclosed this on Monday at the official commissioning of the commission’s new headquarters in Abuja.
According to Olatunji, the jobs were created through the activities of the commission and its licensed data protection compliance organisations (DPCOs), which help businesses and other organisations comply with Nigeria’s data protection laws.
He said the commission has so far licensed 356 DPCOs under a public-private partnership model, creating a growing market for data protection services in Nigeria.
“The activities of these DPCOs and our work enabled us to create 27,000-plus jobs within three years,” Olatunji said.
He added that the wider data protection ecosystem in Nigeria is now worth more than N18 billion, highlighting the growing economic value of privacy, compliance, training and other services linked to the sector.
The commissioner said the NDPC has also trained nearly 100,000 people through more than 220 training programmes, while over 66,000 engineers have been introduced to data protection through its virtual academy.
Olatunji said the commission’s growth represents a significant transformation from its early years, when it operated with a small team and struggled with funding.
He recalled that the data protection function started as a small unit under the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), before the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) was issued in 2019.
The Nigeria Data Protection Bureau was subsequently established in February 2022 with 12 staff, before the enactment of the Nigeria Data Protection Act in 2023 transformed it into a full-fledged regulatory commission.
Olatunji said the passage of the Data Protection Act gave Nigeria’s data regulator stronger legal standing internationally and increased recognition of the country’s data protection regime.
The commission, he said, has since attracted interest from other countries, with officials from 17 countries visiting Nigeria over the past two years to learn about its data protection system.
The development comes as businesses increasingly collect and process personal information through digital platforms, financial services, telecommunications, e-commerce and other technology-driven activities.
