Broadband connectivity and Nigeria’s push for digital powerhouse

*Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, highlights predictable policy environment, strong institutional backing, and political leadership as factors required to push Nigeria to become a leading digital powerhouse, and safeguard the country’s long-term digital sovereignty

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

As the burgeoning Nigeria Digital Economy gains momentum, the leadership of the governing All Progressives Congress has said crucial factors, including predictable policy environment, strong institutional backing, and political leadership will be required to push the West African country towards becoming a leading digital powerhouse in Africa.

ConsumerConnect reports Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, National Chairman of the party, said the Federal Government’s installation of 90,000km additional fibre optic infrastructure across the 36 states of the Federation is a strategy for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s projected $1trillion economy few years ahead.

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Yilwatda stated this during a recent virtual session with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Federal Government’s Communications, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Telecoms agencies, in Abuja, FCT.

The Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE) is leading the implementation of the $2 billion fibre optic project under the Project BRIDGE initiative.

The National Chairman of the party restated that the 90,000 km fibre initiative as the cornerstone of the government’s digital infrastructure drive is a major initiative designed to dramatically expand the country’s telecoms backbone.

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The National Chairman of the party urged the ICT/Telecoms CEOs to brace up for a major economic role in Nigeria’s attaining the digital powerhouse status.

Highlighting the need to address other requisite factors to advance the Nigeria Digital Economy, Prof. Yilwatda stressed that technology alone would not suffice.

He noted that a predictable policy environment, strong institutional backing, and political leadership would be required to pivot Nigeria into a leading digital powerhouse in the global technology ecosystem.

The National Chairman referenced the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), stating the ICT sector of the Nigerian economy contributed 11.7 percent to Nigeria’s GDP across the first three quarters of 2024.

It expanded at more than twice the rate of the broader national economy.  Telecommunications and information services alone drove that surge, recording a growth rate of about 10.8 percent compared to the macro GDP growth of approximately 3.4 percent.

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Despite these record contributions to the country’s GDP in the last few years, Yilwatda stressed that rapid statistical growth yet hides critical gaps in basic accessibility of connectivity for digital consumers .

He related though Broadband subscriptions reached 134 million in mid-2024 with a penetration rate of 47.4 percent, nearly four out of 10 Nigerian consumers remained completely disconnected from essential digital services.

According to him, behind such identified structural deficit, affecting over 33 million citizens, are real-world human consequences.

Yilwatda, nonetheless, lamented that several millions of farmers were unable to check real-time market prices, students cut off from digital educational resources, and small business owners unable to process electronic transactions in the economy.

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He equally said controlling Local Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the digital space, there was a need to address the rising dependence on global technology.

He discussed the massive contribution of the Information and Communications Technology sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Prof. Yilwatda specifically, tasked Nigerian technology engineers, investors, and stakeholders with building and maintaining domestic AI and cloud stacks to safeguard Nigeria’s long-term digital sovereignty.

He further urged the industry stakeholders to deliberately address the reported urban-rural imbalances in connectivity across the country.

Yilwatda also emphasised the strategic importance of aligning public policy with private enterprise to construct a resilient, tech-driven economy capable of reaching a $1 trillion valuation.

The National Chairman extensively highlighted the unequal distribution of current infrastructure.

According to him, a recent report indicated that Lagos and Abuja absorb over 18 percent of Nigeria’s deployed fibre, leaving fibre-to-the-home subscriptions low at just 265,000 nationwide.

Underscoring the importance of telecoms sector to the country’s economy, Yilwatda, therefore, urged the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to expand investments into underserved areas by targeting last-mile connections, extra towers, and data access affordability.