Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani announced the approval of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to support the deployment of 90,000km of fibre optic cable for universal access to the internet across the country.
Dr Tijani explained that, “Nigeria needs 125, 000km of fibre optic cable. Fortunately for us, the private sector has invested 35, 000km. Since the emergence of this administration, it has been very clear that President Bola Tinubu, with the support of the ministry, will aggressively deploy 90, 000km of fibre optic cable.”
“About six or seven weeks ago, the Federal Executive Council actually approved the establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which is now working with seven to eight fibre development finance institutions.” the minister said at the EdTech Conference organised by the Mastercard Foundation.
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The Minister said the project would increase Nigeria’s fibre optic cable capacity from 35,000 kilometres to 125,000 km, making it Africa’s third-longest terrestrial fibre optic backbone behind South Africa and Egypt.
He said the deployment will start in the next eight to 12 months as the government has started putting together the $2bn fund needed to achieve the project. the project would strengthen internet connectivity in schools, hospitals and critical institutions once it was deployed.
