African Development Bank approves $200m loan for Nigeria’s fibre Project BRIDGE

Nigeria’s push to expand its digital infrastructure has gained fresh momentum after the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a $200 million loan for Project BRIDGE, a major fibre-optic programme aimed at widening broadband access and strengthening the country’s digital economy.

The initiative, formally known as the Digital Value Chain Infrastructure for Boosting Employment (D-VIBE) project, is part of a wider effort to mobilise about $2 billion for broadband expansion across the country, according to the AfDB.

The plan is ambitious: officials want to lift Nigeria’s national fibre backbone from roughly 30,000 kilometres to 120,000 kilometres, with open-access infrastructure reaching all 774 local government areas.

By Harry Baldock

Full story at Total Tele