The Federal Government of Nigeria has opened talks with the World Bank, on possible financing of an additional 90,000 km of fibre optic cables deployment in the country.
Dr. Bosun Tijani, the minister of Communications and Digital Economy, disclosed this on Tuesday while announcing the kickoff of Nigeria Week in Washington, United States.
Techeconomy had reported that the Federal Executive Council meeting approved the launch of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will support the deployment of an additional 90,000km of fibre optic cable across the country.
The project aims to increase Nigeria’s fibre optic cable capacity from 35,000 km to 125,000 km, making it Africa’s third-longest terrestrial fibre optic backbone behind South Africa and Egypt.
In its October 12, 2022 story, Techeconomy reported that Nigeria needs 120,000 additional kilometres of fibre optic cables to meet the New National Broadband Plan 2025 target.
Not only that, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) suggests that the country needs massive investments in about 40,000 additional Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) to ensure the plan does not become a mirage.
On assumption of office last year, Dr. Tijani has continued to advocate for increased broadband penetration in the country.
“A great kickoff for Nigeria Week today at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.
“Excellent discussions with the World Bank Global Digital Development team on our digital economy agenda, particularly our plans to build out a 90,000 km fibre optic network,” the minister stated on X (formerly Twitter).
Before the minister traveled to Washington for Nigerian Week, he engaged with the representatives of the World Bank in a virtual meeting last week to discuss priority areas on digital trade for Nigeria, preliminary findings and insights from the Digital Trade Policy Gap Analysis.
Beyond aiming for improved broadband penetration in the country, which is still less than 50 per cent, the minister has also developed an artificial intelligence roadmap after assembling about 120 researchers last month.
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