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

News 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 t he 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. According to the AfDB and reports in Premium Times , the network is also intended to support cross-border links with Benin, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad, while extending service to schools, health facilities, rural communities, agro-industrial zones, and commercial centres. “Nigeria has the talent, the market, and the ambition; what it has lacked is the backbone infrastructure to connect that potential to opportunity. D-VIBE changes that. From the north to the south, from farms to factories to classrooms, this investment will make high-speed connectivity a reality for every Nigerian community and give young people the tools to build their futures digitally,” said Abdul Kamara, Director General, African Development Bank Group Nigeria Office. Funding for the project is being assembled from multiple sources. In addition to the AfDB loan, reports suggest the package includes $500 million from the World Bank, $100 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, an $1.2 billion from the private sector. Execution remains the critical test for the project. Fibre rollout in Nigeria has repeatedly been slowed by right-of-way costs, fragmented policy, and coordination problems, making delivery as much a governance challenge as a financing one. Also in the news Connected Britain Award winners 2025 announced! Netomnia announces ‘powerful and ambitious’ rebrand ahead of Connected Britain VodafoneThree drops Samsung, relies on Nokia and Ericsson for £2bn network upgrade The post African Development Bank approves $200m loan for Nigeria’s fibre Project BRIDGE appeared first on Total Telecom .