The Federal Government of Nigeria has secured a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank Group to support the rollout of 90,000 kilometres of open-access fibre infrastructure nationwide.
The AfDB disclosed this in a statement released on Friday.
The funding will support the Digital Value Chain Infrastructure for Boosting Employment (D-VIBE) Project, also known as Project BRIDGE, a flagship initiative designed to expand Nigeria’s fibre backbone from approximately 30,000 kilometres to about 120,000 kilometres.
The project is expected to connect all 774 local government areas across the country to high-speed broadband.
What they are saying
According to the AfDB, the $200 million loan is part of an $800 million sovereign financing package for the project, alongside $500 million from the World Bank and $100 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
- “Total project financing is estimated at $2 billion, and includes an EU grant of €22 million, a $2.6 million Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) project preparation grant, and at least $1.2 billion of investment from the private sector,” the Bank said.
Commenting on the development, Director General, African Development Bank Group Nigeria Office, Abdul Kamara, said:
- “Nigeria has the talent, the market, and the ambition; what it has lacked is the backbone infrastructure to connect that potential to opportunity.
- “D-VIBE changes that. From the north to the south, from farms to factories to classrooms, this investment will make high-speed connectivity a reality for every Nigerian community and give young people the tools to build their futures digitally.”
Get up to speed
Earlier in February, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, disclosed that the government had secured a $100 million investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the Project BRIDGE.
According to Tijani, the package includes €18 million for digital public services and €5 million to support the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, as well as €18 million for Digital Public Services and €5 million to support our 3MTT Nigeria Programme.
- “These approvals are deeply reassuring as we reflect on the hard work and the air miles, across six countries in two weeks to secure the partnerships required to deploy 90,000km of fibre across Nigeria, delivering meaningful connectivity to all Nigerians,” he stated.
More insights
The project is expected to support the creation of up to 2.8 million jobs over its lifecycle and raise national broadband penetration from 45% to around 70% by 2030.
- It will also establish cross-border fibre links with neighbouring countries such as Benin, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.
- Beyond infrastructure deployment, AfDB said the project will address demand-side constraints through initiatives such as affordable device access, large-scale digital skills development, and support for digital platforms in priority sectors.
- It will also promote cybersecurity frameworks, market competition policies, and the adoption of hybrid and renewable energy solutions to improve network resilience.
According to AfDB, the initiative aligns with Nigeria’s long-term development frameworks, including Vision 2050, the National Development Plan, and the Renewed Hope Development Plan (2026–2030), as well as continental and institutional strategies such as the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the AfDB’s Ten-Year Strategy (2024–2033).
What you should know
As part of the Project BRIDGE implementation, the Federal Government last month opened an expression of interest for a National Digital Economy Research Cluster.
The research clusters programme was introduced to ensure that Nigeria’s digital transformation is guided by data, evidence, and locally driven insights rather than external models or short-term policy trends.
Eligible institutions were required to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) under one or more of the six thematic research clusters defined under Project BRIDGE, which include Connectivity and Access, Digital Public Infrastructure, Digital Skills and Inclusion, Digital Economy and Jobs, Trust and Online Safety, and Artificial Intelligence, with each cluster carrying an indicative budget of $1.5 million.
