Nigeria’s digital project to deliver 90,000km of Fibre by 2028 nationwide – Yilwatda

The national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, has said the federal government ongoing digital infrastructure initiative is scheduled to deploy and deliver over 90,000 kilometres of open-access fibre across the 36 states of the federation by 2028.

He said, when completed, the project is expected to take Nigeria’s combined backbone from about 35,000 kilometres to around 125,000 kilometres and connect more than 200,000 schools, health facilities and other public institutions in the country.

Yilwatda stated this Wednesday during a virtual executive session with the Chief Executive Officers of the information technology industry.

In a statement by his Special Adviser of Media and Information, Abimbola Tooki, described digital infrastructure as fundamental to Nigeria’s economic transformation, noting that the country’s ambitions in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital inclusion and a technology-driven economy could not be achieved without robust and affordable connectivity infrastructure.

He said the federal government’s project BRIDGE, designed to deploy 90,000 kilometres of open-access fibre across the country, represented one of the most significant infrastructure interventions in Nigeria’s digital space.

According to him, the federal government incorporated Bridge Open Access in August as an independent company to deliver the network, with government, through the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, expected to hold between 25 and 49 per cent, while private investors will hold between 51 and 75 per cent and retain operational control.

He said the structure was deliberately designed to ensure that government provides the necessary de-risking and strategic support while the private sector brings operational discipline, investment and efficiency to the project.

The APC national chairman disclosed that about $800 million in sovereign financing had already been secured for the initiative, comprising $500 million from the World Bank, $100 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and $200 million from the African Development Bank, in addition to a €22 million grant from the European Union.

He said physical rollout of the project was scheduled to commence in October 2026, with the delivery period reduced from five years to three years and completion now targeted for 2028.

“When completed, the project is expected to take Nigeria’s combined backbone from about 35,000 kilometres to around 125,000 kilometres and connect more than 200,000 schools, health facilities and other public institutions,” Yilwatda said.

He, however, cautioned that the success of the initiative would depend on moving beyond policy announcements to actual implementation.

“Announcements do not lay cable,” the National Chairman said, stressing that about $1.2 billion was still required from private capital to complete the financing needs of the project.

He also noted that fibre deployment alone would not automatically translate into digital inclusion without complementary investments in electricity, affordable devices, affordable data services, towers, backhaul infrastructure and last-mile connectivity.

Yilwatda observed that fibre infrastructure remained heavily concentrated in major urban centres, with Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory accounting for more than 18 per cent of deployed fibre, while fibre-to-the-home penetration remained relatively low, with approximately 265,000 subscribers nationwide.