FG Intensifies Investment In 90,000km Fibre-Optic Network To Deepen Connectivity

The federal government has increased investment into Nigeria’s 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic network to deepen connectivity across the country in order to boost the digital economy and make Nigeria competitive globally.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani,  said during the National Innovation Hub Standards Framework Workshop on Thursday in Abuja, stressing that  the project, expected to be substantially advanced by December, will position Nigeria’s fibre network among the longest on the African continent

Tijani noted that Nigeria had developed a clear understanding of how technology could transform society and accelerate growth across critical sectors adding that the National Innovation Hub Standards Framework would strengthen the nation’s innovation ecosystem and create an enabling environment for startups to develop solutions to national challenges.

The minister expressed the importance of technology in varied sectors such as agriculture, education and healthcare, stressing that no meaningful transformation in the sectors could be achieved without effective deployment of technology.

He mentioned three layers through which technology supports societal growth, such as foundational digital infrastructure, technology stack and applications developed by innovators.

He said the foundation layer included fibre-optic networks, satellites, telecommunications towers, data centres, power and connectivity, which provided the basis for digital transformation.

The second layer he said comprises technology systems and frameworks that enable people and businesses to build innovative solutions even as he noted that digital identity, data exchange and interbank settlement systems are examples of technologies within the second layer.

“The third layer was where innovators operated, developing applications and services to improve businesses, public services and people’s lives,” he said.

According to the Minister, Nigeria’s experience in telecommunications and financial technology demonstrated the importance of strengthening the first two layers to enable innovation. He also emphasized that the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in 1999 attracted investments in towers and fibre-optic networks, creating a foundation for improved connectivity.

Tijani said strong foundational infrastructure and technology frameworks had contributed to Nigeria’s emergence as a leading fintech hub in Africa and its production of billion-dollar technology companies.

In his remarks the director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency(NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, said the inauguration of the standards framework validation  exercise would open  a flurry of opportunities  for startups across Nigeria.

He said, “Today for me marks a remarkable milestone in our journey of making innovation to be evenly distributed in Nigeria. We know innovation does not happen in isolation, it happens in an ecosystem and that ecosystem does not happen by accident, it happens by design.

“But to design it we need to be intentional about it. In some locations it happens organically but in some other locations we need to make some efforts to make it happen and to do that we are here to socialize the national innovation hub standard framework,” he said.

He disclosed that there are 339 hubs across Nigeria mostly based in Lagos and Abuja and in 10 states of the federation, stressing that efforts are being made to build standard hubs around other states.

Also speaking, Hilda Ayejimiwo, Senior Programme Manager, Embassy of Denmark, welcomed it as significant development that would improve the quality and capacity of innovation hubs, adding that a common national benchmark would provide government, development partners and other stakeholders with a basis for coordinated and evidence-based support for innovation hubs.

She said the success of the framework would depend on sustained collaboration among government, hubs, the private sector, development partners and entrepreneurs.

Contributing, Victoria Fabumi, National Coordinator, Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI) , said the framework would strengthen hubs that support and nurture startups while decentralising innovation across the country.