The Innovation Opportunity in Nigeria’s Fibre Plan

Reliable internet access is essential for innovation and economic growth. Yet in Nigeria, digital infrastructure remains uneven. As of late 2023, only 36% of tech startups operate outside Lagos, while the city accounts for over 70% of the country’s startup activity. Lagos’s edge lies in its superior internet connectivity, which continues to attract talent, funding, and ecosystem support. Meanwhile, secondary cities lag behind—held back by slow internet speeds. The national average is just 25.9 Mbps, far below the global average of 46.8 Mbps. This gap limits startups outside Lagos from scaling, working remotely, launching digital products, or securing investment. The result is a highly concentrated tech economy and missed opportunities for innovation in other regions. Bridging this divide through nationwide fibre expansion is essential to building a more inclusive, competitive, and balanced digital economy.

What the 90,000 Fibre Rollout Promises

To address these disparities, the federal government has committed to a major fibre optic expansion: a 90,000-kilometre rollout set to transform national connectivity in 2025. This project builds on Nigeria’s existing 35,000km backbone, bringing the total to 125,000km, backed by a $2 billion investment. The primary goal is to raise internet penetration beyond 70% while reducing broadband costs by over 60%. The model driving this rollout is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), operationalized through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). Government retains 25–49% equity, while private sector partners finance, deploy, and manage the network under independent board supervision. This approach not only enhances transparency but also aims to leverage the efficiency and innovation capacity of the private sector. A key feature of the project is its open-access design. Rather than allowing duplication of infrastructure, the network will be shared by multiple ISPs on a regulated, non-discriminatory basis. This competitive model encourages more affordable pricing and widens broadband availability across sectors. Notably, this rollout is not restricted to urban centres. It prioritizes underserved regions, with plans to connect over 200,000 educational, healthcare, and public institutions in rural areas. This pivot is especially significant, as it addresses long-standing digital exclusion outside Lagos and aligns with broader goals of inclusive innovation, decentralized tech growth, and digitally enabled public services. In effect, the fibre rollout is not just a technological intervention, it is a development strategy aimed at reducing inequality, improving digital access, and creating the infrastructure base for a more connected, inclusive economy.

What Better Connectivity Unlocks

Improved internet infrastructure has powerful ripple effects across the economy, especially for startups, MSMEs, and Nigeria’s growing digital workforce. For micro, small, and medium enterprises, improved broadband access facilitates participation in digital markets, enabling businesses to scale operations beyond local boundaries. It also supports the adoption of productivity-enhancing tools, such as cloud computing, digital payment platforms, and customer relationship management systems. These tools reduce transaction costs, streamline logistics, and enhance competitiveness. Government-supported initiatives like the MSMEs Digital Academy further strengthen this transition by providing access to training and digital literacy resources. Startups, especially those in data-intensive sectors such as fintech, healthtech, and logistics, benefit from lower latency and more reliable connectivity. This allows for the development and deployment of AI-driven solutions, real-time analytics, and cloud-native applications innovations that require stable, high-speed infrastructure to be viable at scale. Kenya presents a useful comparative model. Through substantial investment in fibre infrastructure and the adoption of open-access principles, Kenya has succeeded in extending broadband services beyond its capital. The growth of M-Pesa, the decentralization of tech activity to cities like Kisumu and Eldoret, and the emergence of Nairobi as a regional digital hub all highlight the transformative potential of nationwide connectivity. Kenya’s experience illustrates how infrastructure-led digital inclusion can decentralize innovation and broaden economic participation. For Nigeria, similar outcomes are possible. Widespread fibre deployment can enable remote work opportunities across the country, reduce urban migration pressures, and facilitate greater inclusion in the digital economy. For the country’s youth in particular, reliable connectivity opens access to digital jobs, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and global markets, all critical to inclusive economic growth. In essence, broadband infrastructure functions not merely as a technical upgrade but as a foundational driver of innovation, competitiveness, and inclusive development.

Sector-Specific Innovation through Connectivity

A robust internet infrastructure is a prerequisite for scaling innovation across Nigeria’s emerging digital sectors. The fiber optic expansion initiative aims to provide the backbone for technology adoption and productivity in agriculture, healthcare, and the creative economy sectors, increasingly shaped by real-time data, cloud-based tools, and high-volume digital content. In agriculture, tools such as the Digital Climate Advisory Services (DCAS) system, launched in partnership with Tomorrow.io and MTN Nigeria, provide farmers with real-time, location-specific weather alerts via SMS. These services help smallholders make time-sensitive decisions, optimizing yields in the face of climate variability. Similarly, the rise of IoT-enabled devices like soil sensors, weather monitors, and drones facilitates precision farming, all of which depend on consistent internet access to function effectively. Health-tech is similarly enabled by connectivity. Telemedicine platforms now support remote consultations, diagnostics, and continuous patient monitoring. High-resolution video conferencing and electronic medical records allow urban-based specialists to extend healthcare access to rural areas. However, the success of these platforms hinges on stable broadband access and digital literacy among frontline health workers. In the creative sector, digital professionals such as animators, video editors, podcasters, and designers depend on high-speed internet for uploading and transferring large multimedia files. Reliable infrastructure enhances collaboration, expands global reach, and increases productivity, yet many creative outside urban centers remain constrained by low bandwidth and high latency. Crucially, the open-access model embedded in Nigeria’s fiber rollout enables individuals across the country, not only in tech hubs like Lagos, to participate in the digital economy. By decentralizing access to high-speed connectivity, the initiative supports geographically inclusive innovation. Ag-tech startups can scale to reach rural farmers, health-tech firms can service underserved clinics, and creative can export their work globally, from wherever they are based.

Execution Risks: What Needs to Happen Next

While Nigeria’s national fibre rollout presents a compelling framework for digital transformation, its success will depend on translating infrastructure into real-world impact. Laying fibre alone does not guarantee meaningful access or economic inclusion. Several implementation challenges must be addressed to ensure the benefits extend to all communities. A major concern is last-mile access connecting homes, schools, and small businesses in rural or low-income areas to the main fibre backbone. Without effective last-mile solutions, large parts of the population may remain digitally excluded. Addressing this requires coordinated efforts between federal and subnational governments, and incentives for private operators to invest in less profitable regions. Affordability is another critical issue. While fibre infrastructure should, in theory, lower internet prices by increasing competition and capacity, high data costs remain a barrier for many Nigerians. Regulatory oversight is essential to ensure that cost reductions at the wholesale level translate into more affordable services for end users. Digital infrastructure must also be paired with local capacity building. Individuals and enterprises need digital skills to fully participate in the online economy. Public and private initiatives that promote digital literacy, access to tools, and entrepreneurship training will be vital, especially for schools, healthcare institutions, and MSMEs in underserved regions. Finally, long-term sustainability must not be overlooked. Fibre networks require consistent maintenance, protection from vandalism, and a stable energy supply. Without reliable upkeep, service quality can quickly deteriorate. Ensuring durability will require clearly defined responsibilities within the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), adequate funding, and localized maintenance capacity. In short, inclusive connectivity demands more than infrastructure. It requires deliberate execution, strong governance, and long-term investment in human and institutional capacity. Only then can the promise of national fibre translate into meaningful digital inclusion.

Conclusion

Nigeria’s fibre rollout has the potential to shift the digital landscape by extending access beyond Lagos and supporting startups, MSMEs, and remote workers nationwide. The plan to lay 90,000 km of fibre could unlock widespread innovation but the real impact depends on effective execution. Ensuring rural connectivity, keeping data affordable, building local digital skills, and maintaining infrastructure will be key. Kenya’s example shows that success lies not just in building networks, but in making them work for everyone. If done right, this project could help create a more inclusive digital economy where innovation isn’t limited by geography.