Clouds2Africa, the locally hosted cloud platform operated by TelCables Nigeria and powered by Angola Cables, says it is fully compliant with Nigeria’s upcoming Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data localisation directive and is positioned to support financial institutions as they prepare for the transition.
The CBN has mandated that all banks, fintechs and payment service providers store payment transaction data generated within Nigeria on local servers. The directive, contained in a circular dated 15 June 2026, will take effect from 1 January 2027 and forms part of a broader regulatory push to strengthen data sovereignty, improve oversight and secure the country’s digital payments ecosystem.
According to the CBN framework, regulated financial institutions will be required to migrate payment data currently hosted on foreign cloud infrastructure to local servers within Nigeria.
Majority of firms still host data abroad
“At this point in time, industry estimates suggest that more than 90 percent of regulated Nigerian businesses currently host data on cloud platforms outside of Nigeria. In terms of the directive from the Central Bank, this could present challenges for many businesses and enterprises.”
– Fernando Fernandes, CEO, TelCables Nigeria
He noted that for financial institutions currently dependent on foreign cloud providers, compliance will require more than data migration, involving a broader redesign of system architecture, support frameworks and cost structures.
Local infrastructure built for compliance
Fernandes said Clouds2Africa was designed specifically to meet local hosting and sovereignty requirements.
“Clouds2Africa has been specifically designed to address local hosting, regulatory compliance and data sovereignty requirements. The platform is hosted across two Tier III data centre facilities in Lagos, providing in-country compute, storage, multi-region deployment, backup and disaster recovery services while ensuring data remains within Nigerian jurisdiction.”
– Fernando Fernandes, CEO, TelCables Nigeria
The company added that its platform is already aligned with regulatory requirements, including NDPA, GAID and DCPMI obligations, offering financial institutions a compliance-ready infrastructure ahead of the deadline.
“Given the six-month deadline, it is critically important for banking institutions to take an active approach to ensuring compliance by partnering with the right service providers who have the infrastructure and capabilities to manage their Cloud requirements – from data storage to security. Our multi-faceted Cloud solution has both the capabilities and certification – and local consulting teams to accommodate and ensure a seamless transition.”
– Fernando Fernandes, CEO, TelCables Nigeria
Comparison of local vs international cloud services
Clouds2Africa highlighted several differences between its local infrastructure and international cloud providers, including:
- Local infrastructure hosted within Nigeria versus offshore data centres
- 24/7 free local support compared to tiered remote support abroad
- Data stored within Nigeria versus global data distribution
- No data transfer charges versus volume-based billing
- Local backup versus distributed offshore backups
- Naira-based billing without FX exposure versus USD/EUR pricing
- Low latency due to proximity versus higher latency from distance
- Full compliance with NDPA versus potential regulatory gaps
- Local job creation versus offshore resource allocation
Backed by global connectivity
The platform is supported by Angola Cables’ international backbone network, which provides connectivity to Europe, the Americas and more than 300 global cloud on-ramps. Clouds2Africa said this allows it to combine local compliance with global connectivity.
It also offers naira-based billing, predictable pay-as-you-grow pricing, hybrid and multi-cloud compatibility, and zero local data transfer charges.
“We are already positioned to help financial institutions meet these requirements without compromising performance, security or operational flexibility.”
– Fernando Fernandes, CEO, TelCables Nigeria
Growing engagement ahead of deadline
With the January 2027 compliance deadline approaching, Clouds2Africa said it is actively engaging with banks, fintechs, payment processors and other regulated institutions seeking a migration path to local cloud infrastructure.
