The financing will support the Digital Value Chain Infrastructure for Boosting Employment project, known as D\u2011VIBE or Project BRIDGE. The initiative seeks to deploy about 90 000 kilometres of new open\u2011access fibre optic cable across Nigeria, extending the national fibre backbone from roughly 30 000 km to about 120 000 km.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The expanded network will connect all 774 local government areas, including schools, hospitals, agro\u2011industrial zones, rural communities and commercial centres. It will also establish cross\u2011border digital links with Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, strengthening regional integration.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nigeria is Africa\u2019s most populous country and West Africa\u2019s largest economy, with the digital sector increasingly contributing to gross domestic product growth. The project is expected to close major connectivity gaps, raise productivity and unlock job opportunities for young people.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
D\u2011VIBE is structured as a public\u2011private partnership through a special purpose vehicle, with public ownership capped at between 25% and 49% and private sector participation ranging from 51% to 75%. This structure is intended to address high fibre rollout costs, including construction and right\u2011of\u2011way challenges.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The African Development Bank loan forms part of an $800 million sovereign financing package, alongside $500 million from the World Bank and $100 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Total project financing is estimated at $2 billion, including a $25.79 million European Union grant, a $2.6 million Multilateral Cooperation Centre for Development Finance preparation grant and at least $1.2 billion in private sector investment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria has the talent, the market and the ambition, but lacked the backbone infrastructure to connect opportunity with potential,\u201d said Abdul Kamara, Director General of the African Development Bank Group\u2019s Nigeria Office. \u201cThis project will deliver high\u2011speed connectivity nationwide and equip young people to build digital careers.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Beyond physical infrastructure, the project will support affordable devices, large\u2011scale digital skills training and digital platforms in priority sectors. It also includes cybersecurity, competition reforms and resilience measures, including greater use of renewable and hybrid power.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
D\u2011VIBE is expected to help create up to 2.8 million jobs and raise broadband penetration from 45% to around 70% by 2030. The project aligns with Nigeria\u2019s Vision 2050 and continental development priorities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–AfDB\/ChannelAfrica—<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31490,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-31489","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a $200 million loan to Nigeria to support a landmark digital infrastructure initiative aimed at expanding broadband access, developing digital skills and driving large\u2011scale job creation.","published_date":"","news_description":"The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a $200 million loan to Nigeria to support a landmark digital infrastructure initiative aimed at expanding broadband access, developing digital skills and driving large\u2011scale job creation.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31491,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31489\/revisions\/31491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}