The Federal Government will begin the implementation of its 90,000-kilometre nationwide fibre-optic network project in October, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has said.

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Tijani said funding had been secured for the project, which forms a major part of the government’s plan to expand Nigeria’s broadband backbone and improve connectivity in underserved communities.

The minister disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the National Innovation Hub Standards Framework Workshop, organised to validate proposed standards, assessment criteria and the implementation approach for innovation hubs across the country.

“President Bola Tinubu approved that we must deepen connectivity and we’re investing in 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic network.

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“By the time we are done, it’s going to be either the third or second longest fibre optic network on the African continent, somewhere between what we have in South Africa and Egypt. And this is a project that is starting implementation in October. We have raised the funding for it,” Tijani said.

The October timeline provides a more specific commencement date for Project BRIDGE, or Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth, which the government had previously scheduled to begin implementation in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The project is designed to deploy at least 90,000km of additional fibre across Nigeria through a public-private partnership, extending the country’s fibre backbone from about 35,000km to roughly 125,000km.

Funding for the project has been assembled from multiple development partners.

The World Bank approved $500m in financing in October 2025, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development subsequently committed $100m alongside a €22m European Union grant. In April 2026, the African Development Bank approved another $200m for Nigeria’s Digital Value Chain Infrastructure for Boosting Employment project, which incorporates Project BRIDGE.

The minister said expanding fibre was part of a broader strategy to build the foundational infrastructure required for Nigeria’s digital economy, noting that technology had become critical to productivity in sectors ranging from agriculture to healthcare and education.

📰 Source: Punch Nigeria