The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in partnership with Swedfund and Ookla, has called for increased investment in digital infrastructure, long-term financing and coordinated reforms to accelerate broadband deployment and bridge Nigeria’s connectivity gap.
The call was made at the Nigeria Digital Connectivity Investment Forum 2026, held at the Onomo Allure Hotel, Abuja, from September 29 to 30, under the theme, “Unlocking Infrastructure Investment through Data, Transparency and Partnerships.”
The two-day forum brought together government officials, regulators, development finance institutions, investment banks, institutional investors, mobile network operators, tower and fibre infrastructure companies, satellite and fixed wireless providers, equipment manufacturers and industry associations to examine Nigeria’s digital infrastructure investment opportunities and identify barriers to deployment and financing.
The forum featured perspectives from leading figures in Nigeria’s investment and financial sectors, including Bolaji Balogun, Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill Denham, who highlighted the importance of investable projects, appropriate financing structures, capital-market participation and conditions capable of attracting long-term private and institutional capital.
Bismarck Rewane, Chairman of the Board of FCMB and Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company, also stressed the importance of the cost and availability of capital, investor confidence and policy predictability in supporting infrastructure investment and economic growth.
Participants noted that Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital economy was placing unprecedented pressure on existing infrastructure.
According to the communiqué issued at the end of the forum, Nigeria consumed about 1.6 million terabytes of data in July 2026, representing an increase of almost 47 per cent in 12 months, while subscriptions are projected to rise from about 195 million to 350 million within the next 10 to 15 years.
The participants warned that emerging technologies, including cloud computing and artificial intelligence, would further increase demand for telecommunications networks, data centres and reliable electricity.
The forum also identified affordability and usage as increasingly important challenges, noting that while mobile broadband coverage now reaches about 90 per cent of Nigerians, smartphone ownership remains at about 27 per cent, while broadband penetration stands at 57.4 per cent against a national target of 70 per cent.
It said device affordability, digital skills and trust had become major constraints to meaningful connectivity, stressing that increased network coverage alone would not close the digital divide.
The participants further identified power and middle-mile infrastructure as major constraints to the expansion of digital services, particularly outside major metropolitan areas.
They called for energy and connectivity investments to be planned together, with tower clusters considered as anchor off-takers for distributed power generation.
The forum observed that digital infrastructure assets typically have an economic life of between 20 and 30 years and therefore require financing with corresponding long tenors rather than conventional five-year bank loans.
It noted that infrastructure financing in Nigeria had increased from less than N70 billion in 2004 to N19.4 trillion in 2025, but stressed that access to capital would continue to depend on strong governance, management capacity and policy predictability.
Participants also highlighted the impact of state-level policies on broadband deployment, citing the pilot Nigeria Digital Connectivity Index across 12 states.
According to the communiqué, reforms to Right of Way charges had translated into fibre growth of between 22 per cent and 95 per cent in states implementing reforms, while the number of states charging zero Right of Way fees had risen from seven in December 2024 to 12.
The forum consequently urged state governments to reduce and harmonise Right of Way and site permit charges, shorten approval timelines and adopt the federal model requiring operators that lay fibre to reinstate affected roads.
It also called for greater adoption of shared infrastructure and neutral-host models to reduce the cost of rural and indoor connectivity.
The participants recommended that the Federal Government accelerate the implementation of Project BRIDGE, the planned 90,000-kilometre national fibre backbone, as a strategic response to Nigeria’s middle-mile connectivity deficit.
They also urged the government to improve the availability and reliability of electricity for digital infrastructure, maintain policy consistency and support financing structures capable of reducing the cost of capital in the sector.
For the NCC, participants recommended sustained reforms to improve the investment environment, including tariff realignment, designation of critical national information infrastructure and continued engagement with state governments on Right of Way issues.
The Commission was also urged to publish the first national Nigeria Digital Connectivity Index report, advance open-access and wholesale regulation and finalise the direct-to-device framework.
Investors and development finance institutions were encouraged to match long-life digital infrastructure assets with long-tenor naira capital, link infrastructure financing to independently verified network performance and deploy blended finance and credit enhancement for projects that are not yet commercially viable.
The forum also outlined a series of time-bound actions.
Within six months, participants agreed to secure funding for community-owned rural networks powered by renewable energy in communities with zero connectivity, through partnerships involving the Universal Service Provision Fund, state governments and the Rural Electrification Agency.
Within six to 18 months, stakeholders are expected to issue open-access and wholesale regulations, publish a wholesale rate card, complete broadband mapping, strengthen the Universal Service Fund as the primary funding source for underserved areas and develop business cases for indoor coverage and data-centre infrastructure.
Within 18 to 24 months, participants agreed to establish a financing framework for telecommunications power and develop metro and access fibre under concession arrangements, mapped against existing assets and integrated with Project BRIDGE.
The forum concluded that the major barriers to Nigeria’s digital infrastructure development—including financing costs and tenor, Right of Way and permitting challenges, unreliable power and gaps in trusted infrastructure data—were interconnected and required coordinated action.
The NCC subsequently pledged to sustain engagement with government, investors, financiers, operators and other stakeholders to advance the agreed investment pathways and priority actions.
Participants expressed appreciation to the Federal Government, the relevant ministries, the Government of Sweden, Swedfund and Ookla, as well as the NCC Board, Management and staff, for supporting and convening the forum