The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, has said Nigeria’s new $2 billion broadband project would significantly boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the current 15 per cent.
Mr Tijani stated this during the plenary session on Smart Growth, Digital Leap hosted by IHS at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #31) in Abuja, noting that the project will enable digital inclusion and position Nigeria as Africa’s next global technology exporter.
The Minister described the plan as an audacious bet, stating that fibre-optic broadband and innovation hubs could unlock Nigeria’s long-anticipated digital wealth.
Mr Tijani said the project, with a hybrid financing model of 49 per cent government and 51 per cent private sector, targets universal broadband coverage across all 774 local governments within three years.
“Connectivity is not optional. It’s the foundation of productivity,” he said.
He noted that, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector already contributes about 15 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP.
However, the Minister lamented that broadband penetration remains around 50 per cent, leaving millions of Nigerians offline, adding that a 10 per cent rise in broadband access could raise GDP by two per cent annually, in line with World Bank data on digital economies.
Mr Tijani said the $2 billion plan, supported by partners such as the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), aims to close that gap. He explained that the initiative would also classify broadband as national critical infrastructure, which would fast-track private investment and reduce telecoms operational costs.
He said one notable example of public-private collaboration was the IHS Towers innovation hub project, described as West Africa’s largest.
He said the hub was expected to train thousands of young Nigerians, offering incubation spaces and access to global investors — mirroring tech development models in India and Brazil.
The Minister said the project’s economic impact would extend beyond the technology sector.
The tech expert cited economists’ estimates that improving rural broadband access could add up to $25 billion annually to Nigeria’s agricultural output, supporting export diversification.
Mr Tijani said through the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Programme, the government plans to train digital workers in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
He also said the government would be looking at boosting other fields including cloud computing, cybersecurity, and data analytics, with four per cent focusing exclusively on AI, stressing that Nigeria could not build a trillion-dollar economy without national connectivity.