By Juliet Umeh

Nigeria is quietly losing an estimated N60 billion every year to foreign domain registrations and web hosting services, a steady outflow that highlights a deeper structural weakness in the country’s digital economy.

This loss, driven by the widespread preference for foreign domains such as .com and .org over Nigeria’s indigenous .ng, is more than a cost issue; it raises questions around digital sovereignty, economic retention, and national identity online.

President of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association, NiRA, Adesola Akinsanya, disclosed this during a media advocacy and capacity-building session held in Lagos.

He said: “Nigeria is losing over N60 billion annually to foreign domain registrations and hosting,” noting that the trend reflects growing digital dependence and capital flight.

He added that as Nigeria positions itself as a leading digital economy in Africa, the country is inadvertently building its online presence on “rented land,” exporting value that could otherwise be retained locally.

Experts, however, say the solution is clear: wider adoption of the .ng domain.

Vice-Chair of the Country Code Names Supporting Organisation, ccNSO, at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, Adeniyi Oladipo, said the issue is ultimately about national economic positioning.

“If fully embraced, .ng could help Nigeria retain billions in local revenue, strengthen control over its data, improve cybersecurity resilience, create jobs, and reinforce trust in its digital ecosystem,” he said.
He explained that many Nigerian businesses still prefer foreign domains due to perceptions of global visibility and prestige, leading to hybrid identities such as brandng.com, which bypass the national domain system.

Experts say this perception is a major driver of digital capital flight.

“Every foreign domain registered by a Nigerian business involves payment in foreign currency, often dollars, contributing to pressure on the naira while exporting value that could remain within the local economy,” Oladipo said.

Beyond the financial impact, he warned that hosting digital assets on foreign domains raises concerns about data sovereignty and regulatory oversight.

“This conversation is not about NiRA or even the .ng domain. It is about Nigeria, how we value and position our national digital assets,” he added.

Providing global context, Oladipo noted that there are about 368 million registered domain names worldwide, with about 40 per cent being country-code top-level domains.

He added that countries such as China and Germany have millions of national domain registrations, while Nigeria, despite its population of over 200 million internet users, has just over 240,000 .ng domains.
Within Africa, South Africa leads with about 1.4 million domains, while Kenya has over 115,000.

“When measured per population, Nigeria has less than one domain per 1,000 people. This is not just a NiRA issue; it is a national issue,” he said.

NiRA’s Chief Operating Officer described the .ng domain as “the bedrock of Nigeria’s digital economy,” warning that continued reliance on foreign domains weakens economic retention and data sovereignty.
Despite the challenges, experts say misconceptions continue to slow adoption.

One of them is the belief that .ng domains perform poorly on search engines.

However, stakeholders insist search visibility depends on relevance and location, not domain extension.
Security concerns have also been raised, but Oladipo said they are often misunderstood.

“There is no system anywhere in the world that is 100 percent secure. What matters is how proactive you are,” he said.

NiRA has deployed security protocols such as DNSSEC to strengthen its infrastructure, though experts note that website security also depends on individual operators.

Beyond infrastructure, stakeholders say the economic opportunity is significant, as wider .ng adoption could support developers, designers, marketers, and other digital professionals.
NiRA is also advocating policy reforms that would mandate .ng usage for government agencies and strengthen compliance across public institutions.

“There must be a top-down approach,” Akinsanya said.

Ultimately, experts argue that the issue goes beyond technology to mindset.

“Domain names are digital real estate,” Oladipo said. “In the same way land in prime locations has value, domains are prime locations in cyberspace.”

As Nigeria advances its digital economy ambitions, the question is no longer whether .ng matters, but whether the country is ready to fully embrace it.

For now, billions of Naira continues to flow out annually, highlighting a silent gap in Nigeria’s digital ownership story.