The Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy has launched the National Broadband Alliance for Nigeria (NBAN), an initiative targeted at boosting broadband development in Nigeria.

The launch event which took place in Lagos on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 had in attendance stakeholders in the industry discussing key themes relating to the accelerated development of the sector including expanding nationwide access to broadband services, enhancing multi-stakeholder collaboration, promoting digital inclusion, and driving innovation across industries.

In his keynote address, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, who was represented at the event by Dr. Aminu Maina, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), said, “Despite our collective goals of achieving 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025; Delivering minimum data speeds of 25 Mbps in urban areas and 10 Mbps in rural areas; Expanding population coverage to 80 per cent by 2027; Increasing broadband investments by 300–500 per cent by 2027, including the growing availability of fibre networks, Nigeria faces an unfortunate paradox.

“Many of the networks remain underutilised. In numerous parts of the country, the capacity of existing fibre infrastructure far exceeds the demand. This is primarily due to a lack of access to necessary infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, compounded by significant barriers to broadband adoption.

“These barriers include limited access to devices, lack of awareness, inadequate digital literacy, cumbersome regulatory processes, and power supply challenges. This underutilisation of existing infrastructure hinders our digital transformation and also negatively impacts the return on investment. This creates a vicious cycle—one that we must break in order to realise the full potential of broadband and its contribution to our digital economy.”