Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr ‘Bosun Tijani, has announced the high-level technical blueprint for Project Bridge, heralded as the most ambitious digital infrastructure initiative in Nigeria’s history and the largest fibre backbone project ever undertaken by a developing nation.
Launched under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the project involves the deployment of a 90,000km wholesale, open-access fibre network that will span the entire country. When combined with Nigeria’s existing 35,000km of fibre, the initiative will establish a comprehensive 125,000km national digital backbone designed to deliver high-speed, resilient, and inclusive broadband connectivity across Nigeria — from major urban centres to the most remote rural communities.
Presented at a stakeholder event in Lagos, held in partnership with the Association of Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr Tijani described Project Bridge as a transformative step toward building a truly inclusive and future-ready digital economy. The network has been conceptualised to serve both large and small Internet Service Providers (ISPs), featuring a scalable architecture that encompasses core, metropolitan, and middle-mile layers. By fostering infrastructure sharing and competition, the project aims to accelerate broadband deployment and bridge Nigeria’s connectivity gap.
A key element of the design involves seven regional backbone rings that connect Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones — Lagos, South West, South South, South East, North Central, North East, and North West. These interconnected rings are engineered to provide redundancy, reduce latency, and facilitate seamless data movement nationwide. The plan also includes 37 metropolitan networks and coverage reaching all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs), creating a resilient digital ecosystem capable of supporting economic growth, governance, education, and innovation across every region.
From each LGA, a Point of Presence (PoP) will serve as a distribution hub, with fibre extending into administrative wards — especially targeting schools and healthcare facilities. These ward-level nodes, functioning as mini PoPs, are designed to enable last-mile connectivity and help bridge the digital divide in underserved rural areas. With an average distance of around six kilometres from LGAs to wards, the deployment strategy aims to be both efficient and adaptable for future expansion.
The final phase, the last mile connectivity, will link homes, businesses, and institutions through fibre or alternative access technologies, supported by the robust middle-mile network. This comprehensive approach aims to bring reliable broadband access to millions of Nigerians, fostering socio-economic development and digital inclusion.
Dr. Tijani called on stakeholders to provide feedback on the implementation process and share insights to ensure the network best serves Nigeria’s long-term social and economic transformation: “this marks a major step forward in our mission to build a truly inclusive and future-ready digital economy for all Nigerians. As we prepare for the rollout of this groundbreaking project, we welcome comments on its potential impact and shared experiences that can support and enrich this process.”
