Bosun Tijani: FG to get $200m from AfDB for nationwide internet connectivity project

President Bola Tinubu has given the ministry of communications approval to source funds to finance 120 kilometres of fibre optic cable and boost connectivity across Nigeria.

Bosun Tijani, minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, spoke on Wednesday at the end of the federal executive council (FEC) meeting presided over by the president.

The minister said he briefed the council on what his ministry has been up to.

Tijani said Tinubu gave the go-ahead for his ministry to source funds to invest in the fibre optic cable to cover the entire country.

“Nigeria is projected to invest in 120 kilometres of fibre optic cable to be able to cover the entire country. At the moment we’re at about 35,000 kilometres,” he said.

“We’ve got the numbers working with the best companies in this space. That will cost us less than a billion to complete the deployment of fibre optic. And the President has given the go-ahead for us to source funds for that.

“So we are in the process of setting up a $2 billion fund, I said it costs less than $1 billion. But the reason why we’re setting up a $2 billion fund is to use the balance to drive down the cost of connectivity in the country.

“We want to ensure that all schools are connected, all hospitals in the country are connected, and also all government facilities as well.

“So while we’re in the process of setting up this fund, we received significant interest from the African Development Bank who are looking to put about $200 million into this.

“We are in extensive deep conversation with the World Bank on this as well. 

“The model we’re taking, which is a special purpose vehicle, is to actually also crowd investment from the private sector to be able to deploy the fibre optic network that we want to deploy in the country.”

The minister also briefed the council on plans to launch a project to provide reliable internet connectivity to 774 local government areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

He said the project aligns with his ministry’s strategic blueprint and is a significant step in achieving Tinubu’s mandate to deliver efficient public service to Nigerians at the LG level. 

Tijani said several secretariats in Kogi state have been connected while those in Imo and Zamfara will be connected this week.