Nigeria is set to commence the implementation of a 90,000-kilometre nationwide fibre-optic network in October 2026, as the Federal Government moves to strengthen broadband infrastructure and expand digital connectivity across the country.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed the timeline on Thursday in Abuja at the National Innovation Hub Standards Framework Workshop, organised to validate proposed standards, assessment criteria and the implementation approach for innovation hubs across Nigeria.
According to the minister, funding for the project has been secured, with the initiative forming a major part of the government’s strategy to deepen connectivity and provide the infrastructure required to support Nigeria’s growing digital economy.
Tijani said the fibre deployment would place Nigeria among the countries with the longest fibre-optic networks in Africa, with the completed infrastructure expected to rank either second or third on the continent, between the networks in South Africa and Egypt.
The October commencement provides a specific timeline for Project BRIDGE, meaning Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth, which had previously been scheduled for implementation in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Under the project, at least 90,000km of additional fibre will be deployed across Nigeria through a public-private partnership. This is expected to expand the country’s existing fibre backbone from approximately 35,000km to about 125,000km.
Several development partners are supporting the financing of the project. The World Bank approved $500 million in October 2025, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development committed $100 million, alongside a €22 million European Union grant. In April 2026, the African Development Bank approved an additional $200 million for Nigeria’s Digital Value Chain Infrastructure for Boosting Employment project, which incorporates Project BRIDGE.
Tijani explained that the fibre expansion was part of a wider government strategy aimed at developing the foundational infrastructure needed to drive Nigeria’s digital economy. He noted that technology now plays an increasingly important role in productivity across sectors including agriculture, healthcare and education.
The government’s digital infrastructure strategy, he said, is structured around three layers. The first focuses on physical infrastructure, including fibre, electricity, telecommunications towers, satellites and data centres. The second involves digital platforms such as identity and payment systems, while the third comprises innovators and businesses that develop services using the infrastructure and platforms.
In addition to the fibre network, plans are underway to deploy nearly 3,700 telecommunications towers in communities that currently have no network coverage.
Tijani said more than 20 million Nigerians currently live in communities without access to telecommunications services, highlighting the scale of the connectivity gap the government intends to address.
Satellite infrastructure is also expected to complement the terrestrial network, with the minister saying Nigeria’s communications satellite would be renewed to extend connectivity to locations where conventional towers and other terrestrial infrastructure may be difficult to deploy.
The investments are linked to the Federal Government’s broader ambition of building a $1 trillion economy, with Tijani arguing that the target cannot be achieved through dependence on oil and gas revenues alone.
He stressed the importance of developing technology-driven businesses capable of creating jobs, expanding the tax base and contributing to economic growth, citing Nigerian-founded companies such as Andela, Paystack and Flutterwave as examples of the type of businesses whose growth could contribute to the country’s economic future.
Meanwhile, attention at the workshop also focused on the proposed National Innovation Hub Standards Framework, which is intended to establish common standards for innovation hubs across the country.
Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Abdullahi, said the framework was being developed to address differences in the quality, capacity and geographical distribution of innovation hubs.
Research conducted by the agency identified more than 339 innovation hubs nationwide, although Abdullahi noted that many remain concentrated in Lagos, Abuja and a limited number of other states.
He said establishing national standards would help ensure that entrepreneurs could access quality support within their own regions rather than having to travel to major technology centres to develop their businesses.
The proposed framework contains seven dimensions and about 35 assessment criteria, through which innovation hubs will be able to assess their capabilities and work towards becoming effective startup incubators.
Abdullahi also disclosed that NITDA was collaborating with the Ministry of Education to integrate digital skills into formal education, identifying the weak connection between academic institutions and industry as one of the gaps affecting Nigeria’s technology ecosystem.
From the development partners’ side, the Acting Head of Partnerships at the Delegation of the European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Prof. Leila Ben-Amor, stressed the importance of common standards in sustaining the rapid growth of Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.
Ben-Amor said Team Europe and key member states are supporting Nigeria’s digital ecosystem with more than €820 million between 2021 and 2027 through initiatives including the EU-Nigeria Digital Package and Global Gateway Strategy.
She maintained that rapid expansion without a common standard could undermine the sustainability of the ecosystem, while expressing the view that the proposed framework could become part of the wider digital architecture being supported by the European Union and its partners.
Representing Denmark’s Consul General to Nigeria, Jette Bjerrum, Senior Programme Manager at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria, Nosakhare Ayejimiwo, said a national benchmark would improve the quality and capacity of innovation hubs while enabling governments and development partners to better direct their interventions.
Ayejimiwo added that achieving the objectives of the framework would require sustained collaboration among the government, private sector, development partners, entrepreneurs and innovation hub operators.
With the fibre-optic rollout scheduled to begin in October, the Federal Government is positioning the expansion alongside investments in telecommunications towers, satellite connectivity, digital platforms and innovation infrastructure as part of a broader effort to strengthen Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and support long-term economic growth.
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