Kehinde Fajobi
The Federal Government has secured significant support from the World Bank for its ambitious 90,000 km Fibre Fund project, which aims to enhance Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, made the announcement on Wednesday via his X handle after a productive meeting with World Bank officials in Washington, D.C.
The project, expected to launch within the next 18 months, aims to expand Nigeria’s fibre network from the current 35,000 km to 125,000 km, positioning the country as home to the third-longest terrestrial fibre optic backbone in Africa, following Egypt and South Africa.
Tijani tweeted, “We had an excellent few days in DC with the World Bank as we received a massive boost for our 90,000 km #FibreFund project. We’re ready to move!” However, he did not disclose additional details.
The Federal Government has also approved a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to oversee the project’s implementation.
Development funding partners are currently finalising the SPV structure to ensure the necessary funding is aggregated for the effective rollout of the fibre-optic network.
In May 2024, Tijani informed reporters that the African Development Bank had pledged $200 million towards the project, with additional contributions from the World Bank, the African Export-Import Bank, and the US Export-Import Bank.
Earlier this month, during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tijani outlined the project’s timeline, stating, “We are working on laying 90,000 km of fibre optic cable across Nigeria. I’ll be naïve to expect people to start praising me in the first 12 months because this is a project that will probably take 18 months to assemble the $2bn required. The actual laying of the fibre will take another two to three years.”