The Federal Government has announced the launched of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) tasked with delivering an additional 90,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable to boost Nigeria’s internet connectivity.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tiajni while making the announcement said that the initiative aims to strengthen Nigeria’s national internet backbone, significantly increasing capacity from the current 35,000 kilometers to a minimum of 125,000 kilometers.
According to the Minister, the SPV, modeled after successful public-private partnerships like NIBSS and NLNG, will leverage collaboration between the government and private sector. This extensive network will unlock the full potential of Nigeria’s existing eight submarine cables, currently operating at only 10% capacity.
“Building on our existing work with the Broadband Alliance, this increased connectivity will help plug the current non-consumption gap by connecting over 200,000 educational, healthcare and social institutions across Nigeria, ensuring that a larger section of our society can be included in the benefits of internet connectivity.
Benefits of this initiative:
1. Increasing internet penetration in Nigeria to over 70%
2. Potential reduction of the cost of access to internet by over 60%
3. Inclusion of at least 50% of the 33 million Nigerians currently excluded from access to the internet
4. Delivering up to 1.5% of GDP growth per capita raising GDP from $472.6 billion (2022) to $502 billion over the next 4 year
Upon delivery, this will become Africa’s 3rd longest terrestial fibre optic backbone, after Egypt and South Africa.
