The Federal Government of Nigeria has secured a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank Group to support the rollout of 90,000 kilometres of open-access fibre infrastructure nationwide.
The AfDB disclosed this in a statement released on Friday.
The funding will support the Digital Value Chain Infrastructure for Boosting Employment (D-VIBE) Project, also known as Project BRIDGE, a flagship initiative designed to expand Nigeria’s fibre backbone from approximately 30,000 kilometres to about 120,000 kilometres.
The project is expected to connect all 774 local government areas across the country to high-speed broadband.
According to the AfDB, the $200 million loan is part of an $800 million sovereign financing package for the project, alongside $500 million from the World Bank and $100 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
“Total project financing is estimated at $2 billion, and includes an EU grant of €22 million, a $2.6 million Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) project preparation grant, and at least $1.2 billion of investment from the private sector,” the Bank said.
Commenting on the development, Director General, African Development Bank Group Nigeria Office, Abdul Kamara, said:
“Nigeria has the talent, the market, and the ambition; what it has lacked is the backbone infrastructure to connect that potential to opportunity.
“D-VIBE changes that. From the north to the south, from farms to factories to classrooms, this investment will make high-speed connectivity a reality for every Nigerian community and give young people the tools to build their futures digitally.”
