Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, has said that Nigeria’s new $2-bilion broadband project will significantly boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
Speaking during the plenary on Smart Growth, Digital Leap hosted by IHS at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES No. 31) in Abuja on Monday.
He said the project would enable digital inclusion and position Nigeria as Africa’s next global technology exporter.
The minister described the plan as an audacious bet, noting that fibre-optic broadband and innovation hubs could unlock Nigeria’s long-anticipated digital wealth.
Tijani said the project, with a hybrid financing model of 49 per cent government and 51 per cent private sector, targets universal broadband coverage across all 774 local governments within three years.
“Connectivity is not optional. It’s the foundation of productivity,” he said.
He noted that, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector already contributes about 15 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP and that it is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
Tijani, however, lamented that broadband penetration remains around 50 per cent, leaving millions of Nigerians offline.
He added that a 10 per cent rise in broadband access could raise GDP by 2 per cent annually, in line with World Bank data on digital economies.
The minister said that the $2billion plan, supported by partners such as the World Bank, IFC, and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), aims to close that gap.
He explained that the initiative would also classify broadband as national critical infrastructure, which would fast-track private investment and reduce telecoms operational costs.
Tijani said that one notable example of public-private collaboration was the IHS Towers innovation hub project, described as West Africa’s largest.
According to him, the hub is expected to train thousands of young Nigerians, offering incubation spaces and access to global investors and mirroring tech development models in India and Brazil.
The minister said the project’s economic impact would extend beyond the technology sector and that economists’estimate that improving rural broadband access could add up to $25 billion annually to Nigeria’s agricultural output, supporting export diversification.
Tijani said through the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Programme, the government plans to train digital workers in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Others are cloud computing, cybersecurity, and data analytics, with 4 per cent focusing exclusively on AI.
He stressed that Nigeria could not build a trillion-dollar economy without national connectivity.
Source: https://apanews.net/2bn-broadband-project-to-boost-nigerias-gdp-growth-minister/
