Speaking to journalists on Wednesday after a high-level meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, World Bank Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, Anshula Kant, affirmed the Bank’s support and praised Nigeria’s reform agenda.
“We are working very, very closely together with this,” Kant said, referring to the fibre-optic rollout. “We have a very large programme with Nigeria… one of the biggest forthcoming projects will be in the digital space, providing broadband access across the country.”
She lauded President Tinubu’s “ambitious macroeconomic reforms,” describing Nigeria as a “very, very valuable and important partner” and credited the government for staying the course despite difficult policy transitions.
Expanding Nigeria’s Digital Backbone
The project will extend Nigeria’s existing fibre network from 35,000km to 125,000km, according to Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun. It is being structured as a self-financing special-purpose vehicle (SPV), designed to avoid dependence on public loans.
“It is geared at the sector which will make use of the facility, pay for it, and therefore make the project highly viable,” Edun noted.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, described the project as a “once-and-for-all” infrastructure upgrade that will embed fibre connectivity in every geopolitical zone and plug existing gaps across the federation.
“We can’t become smarter with agriculture, scale education, or deliver modern healthcare without good connectivity,” he stressed. “There are few investments that can add 1.35 percentage points to GDP for each 10% increase in broadband quality.”
Tijani added that the Federal Government will hold a minority stake, while private investors will provide 51% of funding, with development financiers like the World Bank expected to inject at least $500 million into the initiative.
With the design phase completed and route maps due for public release within two months, ground-breaking is expected to begin before the end of 2025.
Self-Sustaining and Broad-Based
The fibre project will be managed independently of government, with cost recovery expected through user fees—ensuring sustainability without burdening Nigeria’s public debt. According to Tijani, the infrastructure will create a nationwide digital ring that penetrates homes, offices, schools, hospitals, and underserved communities.
He added that service quality issues often blamed on mobile operators stem from poor core infrastructure, something the project aims to “fix once and for all.”
The World Bank's support reflects growing recognition that digital infrastructure is central to Nigeria’s development. Kant affirmed that the broadband plan aligns with the World Bank’s mission to eradicate poverty and promote livable, inclusive growth.
“Access to energy, access to digital services, higher productivity in agriculture, better health and education—these are our shared priorities with Nigeria,” she said.
Broader Partnership: Power, Agribusiness, Education
The World Bank already maintains a $9 billion project portfolio in Nigeria, with major allocations to the power sector ($1.5 billion), adolescent girls’ education ($700 million), and rural roads ($500 million). Kant noted that future initiatives will increasingly focus on agribusiness value chains, renewable energy, and SME finance, in addition to broadband expansion.
Also in the pipeline is a concessional finance window to support Nigeria’s growing base of small and medium enterprises, which are expected to be key beneficiaries of the country’s digital transformation.
Kant’s visit—her first to Nigeria since President Tinubu assumed office in May 2023—comes at a crucial time, as the administration works to stabilise the naira, reduce inflation, and attract sustainable investment following the removal of fuel subsidies and exchange rate unification.
A Turning Point for Nigeria’s Digital Economy?
The 90,000km fibre-optic backbone is poised to become a cornerstone of Nigeria’s digital economy strategy, potentially enabling innovations in e-governance, fintech, e-commerce, health tech, and agricultural technology.
If executed successfully, the rollout could significantly raise Nigeria’s broadband penetration, reduce the digital divide, and boost GDP—while reinforcing confidence in the Tinubu administration’s economic vision.
“This is infrastructure that will keep giving,” Tijani concluded, highlighting its long-term impact on productivity and economic resilience.
With the backing of the World Bank and a commitment to private sector leadership, the project marks a promising shift toward inclusive, tech-driven growth in Africa’s largest economy.