Nigeria FG Solicits Sweden’s Support for Robust Broadband Infrastructure

The Nigeria Federal Government has sought the help of Sweden for the deployment of more powerful broadband infrastructure in Nigeria.

Speaking through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Executive Vice President, Prof. Umar Danbatta, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami announced that Nigeria had embarked on a journey of digital transformation.

“We have a plan to move the massive capacity from the landing point to hinterland. To do that effect, we know we have to put in place the necessary infrastructure that will facilitate it. We would, therefore, like the Swedish Government to buy into this great idea of deploying this massive broadband infrastructure which is fiber-driven,” Pantami said.

The minister said plans are underway to ensure that the large data infrastructure at landing points to the hinterland is evacuated, adding that the project would see 10 gigabytes of quantum connectivity per second in each of the country’s 774 local governments.

Speaking during a dinner hosted by Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, Carl-Michael Grans, Pantami said, “The statistics are there for all to see. The broadband penetration, for instance, is about 40 per cent. But this is 40 per cent of close to 200 million people, which translates to about 80 million Nigerians having access to high-speed Internet together with the volume associated with broadband networks.”

On Internet penetration in the country, Pantami observed that figures recently released by the NCC indicated that almost 125 million Nigerians had access, but lamented that close to 31 million Nigerians were still within unserved and underserved areas. With help of of the government of Sweden, Nigeria could spread its broadband coverage these somewhat isolated areas in the country.

The minister, however, noted that Nigeria achieved its five-year National Broadband target of 30 percent in December 2018 and since then, the level of penetration had remained steady.

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