The Federal Government has announced plans to begin construction of a 90,000-kilometre fibre optic network within the next few weeks, describing the initiative as a major step towards expanding digital connectivity across Nigeria.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Tuesday after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on the progress of key digital transformation projects being implemented by the ministry.
According to the minister, preparations for the nationwide broadband infrastructure project have been concluded, including contractual arrangements and resource mobilisation, clearing the way for physical deployment.
“We’re now at the point where, in a few weeks’ time, we should start to lay those fibre, so people will start seeing us around the country deploying the fibre. This is going to transform Nigeria for good,” Tijani said.
He explained that the project is designed to extend fibre optic infrastructure to every geopolitical zone, state, local government area and ward, with the aim of improving broadband access and internet quality nationwide.
“This is a project where every state, every geopolitical zone, every local government and every ward in this country will be covered with fibre optic cables, which will transform the quality of connectivity,” he added.
Tijani said the progress recorded in the sector had been driven by reforms introduced under the Tinubu administration. He cited the designation of digital infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure, tariff adjustments and tax harmonisation measures as key interventions that had strengthened the industry.
He noted that the digital economy’s contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product had increased from between 16 and 18 per cent when the administration took office to nearly 21 per cent.
“I think our sector has been extremely fortunate. Mr President has given us quite a number of things that the sector has been demanding for a long time,” he said, adding that the reforms had also improved the financial performance of telecommunications operators.
The minister also announced plans to begin deploying about 3,700 telecommunications towers from October to expand network coverage to more than 20 million Nigerians living in underserved communities.
He said the President had approved the initiative following months of planning and efforts to secure the necessary funding.
“Before the end of the year, we’ll also start to deploy close to 3,700 towers. It’s taken a lot to put this project together and raise the required capital, but we are now ready to begin deployment around October,” Tijani said.
In addition, the minister revealed that Nigeria would officially introduce an alphanumeric postcode system on 1 October, describing it as a significant milestone in the country’s digital addressing infrastructure.
According to him, the new system will assign a unique address to every property across the country, improving logistics, supporting e-commerce, enhancing emergency response and strengthening the delivery of public services.
“Inability to locate places comes at a cost. You can imagine what this will do for e-commerce. It means goods can now be delivered in record time,” he said.
Tijani added that integrating the postcode system with existing government identity databases would improve security and make public services more efficient.
“Our alphanumeric postcode is unique because it allows us to assign a unique address to every property. In many countries, such as the UK, postcodes cover clusters of buildings. What we are introducing will uniquely identify every building, and that will be a game changer for Nigeria in terms of security, commerce and public service delivery,” he said.
