Backed by a $328 million credit facility from China’s EXIM bank, the Nigerian government is looking to expand fibre infrastructure to 19 states in its Northern region. The states include Abuja, Plateau, Gombe, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Kano and others in Northwest Nigeria.
The project has been called the National Information Communications Technology Infrastructure Backbone, NICTIB II and is a result of an agreement between
Galaxy Backbone Limited, the broadband company owned by the government and Huawei. The agreement was signed two years ago.
Nigeria is looking to double down on its broadband plan. There has been a lot of talk about it in the past but the government now appears to be showing some seriousness about the plans.
In December 2019, the country’s minister of digital economy appointed Funke Opeke, CEO of leading West African broadband company, MainOne to co-chair a broadband committee. The committee’s job was to create a new 5-year broadband plan to help it achieve a 70% penetration by 2025.
Also recently, states have been crashing right of way fees to attract broadband operators. While there are questions about sufficient demand for broadband in states that very have low per capita income especially in the Northern region, expanding access to broadband is key to making states more competitive and building knowledge economies.
Hopefully, the government further backs its talk and plans with more action.
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