By Anita Dennis
The federal government is stepping up investment in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure as it advances plans to expand and strengthen a 90,000-kilometre fibre-optic network across the country.
The project is expected to significantly improve connectivity and provide a stronger foundation for Nigeria’s digital economy. The government also expects the expansion to enhance the country’s competitiveness in a global economy where access to reliable digital infrastructure increasingly determines how businesses operate, innovate and grow.
Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, disclosed the development in Abuja last Thursday at the National Innovation Hub Standards Framework Workshop.
According to the Honourable Minister, the fibre-optic project is expected to be substantially advanced by December. When completed, Nigeria’s fibre network would rank among the longest on the African continent.
The investment comes as the federal government seeks to build the infrastructure required to support a wider digital transformation across sectors.
Dr. Tijani said Nigeria now has a clearer understanding of how technology can transform society and accelerate development, but stressed that meaningful progress depends on building the right foundation.
He identified three layers through which technology supports societal growth.
The first is foundational digital infrastructure, which includes fibre-optic networks, satellites, telecommunications towers, data centres, power and connectivity. These provide the physical infrastructure required for digital services to function.
The second layer consists of technology systems and frameworks that allow individuals, businesses and institutions to build and exchange digital solutions. Digital identity, data exchange systems and interbank settlement platforms are examples.
The third layer is where innovators operate, developing applications and services that improve businesses, public services and the daily lives of citizens.
For Nigeria, strengthening the first two layers could determine how far the country’s innovation ecosystem can grow.
Dr. Tijani pointed to Nigeria’s experience in telecommunications and financial technology as evidence. The liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in 1999 attracted substantial investment in telecommunications towers and fibre-optic networks, helping to establish the infrastructure on which the country’s digital economy has expanded.
That foundation has contributed to Nigeria becoming one of Africa’s leading fintech markets and producing technology companies valued at more than $1 billion.
The government is now looking to extend that success beyond established technology centres.
The National Innovation Hub Standards Framework is part of this effort. It is designed to strengthen the innovation ecosystem by establishing standards that can guide the development and operation of innovation hubs across the country.
Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, said the validation of the framework represents an important step towards spreading innovation more evenly across Nigeria.
“Innovation does not happen in isolation, it happens in an ecosystem and that ecosystem does not happen by accident, it happens by design,” Inuwa said.
He explained that while innovation ecosystems can develop organically in some locations, other areas require deliberate intervention to create the conditions for startups and innovators to thrive.
NITDA data shows that Nigeria currently has 339 innovation hubs, with a significant concentration in Lagos and Abuja and only 10 other states hosting hubs.
The uneven distribution presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
Concentrating innovation infrastructure in a few major cities can limit access for entrepreneurs in other parts of the country. Standardising hubs and supporting their development across more states could give startups outside the traditional technology centres greater access to mentorship, infrastructure, networks and investment.
This decentralisation could also help government identify and develop solutions based on local challenges.
Hilda Ayejimiwo, Senior Programme Manager at the Embassy of Denmark, welcomed the standards framework, describing it as a significant development that could improve the quality and capacity of innovation hubs.
She said a common national benchmark would give government, development partners and other stakeholders a basis for coordinated and evidence-based support for innovation hubs.
But the success of the framework will depend on collaboration.
Victoria Fabumi, National Coordinator of the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), said the framework would strengthen hubs responsible for supporting and nurturing startups while helping decentralise innovation across the country.
The broader strategy is clear. Nigeria cannot build a globally competitive digital economy by focusing only on applications and startups. The infrastructure beneath them must also be reliable, affordable and widely accessible.
The planned 90,000-kilometre fibre-optic network therefore has significance beyond telecommunications. It is a foundation for digital education, financial services, healthcare, agriculture, public services and emerging technologies.
