Nigeria’s federal government is working with the World Bank to raise the $3 billion the country needs to ensure full fiber optic coverage across the country. The partnership was revealed by Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, during a meeting with stakeholders in Abuja.
The local press reports it. As part of this collaboration, a national fund for digital broadband will be established: the funds raised will be used to build approximately 95,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables, in collaboration with the private sector. The project is expected to be completed within the next three years.
In December 2023, during an interview with the local television channel Channels TV, Tijani had highlighted the need to invest in the extension of the national fiber optic network, expressing the need for approximately 65,000 kilometers of optical fiber for a cost of between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars. With this in mind, the Nigerian communications commission (NCC) is campaigning with Nigerian states for the reduction of rights of way in order to facilitate the deployment of optical fiber throughout the country: the states of Katsina, Nassarawa, Anambra, Ekiti and the Federal Capital Territory have already taken measures in this direction. The current right-of-way rate in Nigeria is 145 naira ($0.09) per linear metre.
These initiatives should not only improve the quality and reduce the costs of telecommunications and Internet services in Nigeria, but also extend the reach of these services to millions of people who are not connected today: according to the latest statistics from the NCC, Nigeria has 223 .2 million mobile telephone subscribers and 162.06 million Internet service subscribers, of which 90.7 million use broadband. [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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