INTRO

This past week, the Honourable Minister focused primarily on the Infrastructure Pillar of our Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint. From deepening collaboration with global development partners to reviewing implementation progress on broadband projects, his engagements underscored our commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s digital backbone and ensuring inclusive connectivity for all.

TIMELINE

Monday, April 14 – Strategic Engagements on Project BRIDGE

• Dr. Tijani began the week with a breakfast meeting with Ousmane Diagana, Vice President for Western and Central Africa Region, World Bank Group, where they discussed the Bank’s continued support for Project BRIDGE, our Ministry’s flagship initiative to deploy 90,000km of fibre-optic cable and improve broadband access across Nigeria.
• He followed this with a meeting with members of the World Bank Group mission led by Natalija Gelvanovska-Garcia, Senior Digital Development Specialist. Also present were Ida Mboob, Senior Digital Development Specialist, and Dr. Maryam Lawal, Digital Development Specialist. Together, they discussed next steps as they accelerate implementation of Project BRIDGE.
• Next, he met with representatives of Salience Consulting, who are conducting research to support the effective implementation of Project BRIDGE.
• Later on Monday, he chaired the statutory meeting of the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), the apex body responsible for the management and regulation of Nigeria’s radio frequency spectrum. 

Tuesday, April 15 – Launching our National AI Strategy 

• The Honourable Minister travelled to Lagos to attend the Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Industry Collective. At the event, he reaffirmed that Nigeria’s National AI Strategy will serve as a model for other African nations and play a pivotal role in the continent’s economic development.
• The event featured the formal launch of the National AI Strategy, alongside the several supporting initiatives including the AI Collective Leadership Learning Series, Diaspora-Connect, and a Compilation of AI for Social Good Use Cases from Nigeria.

• He later paid a courtesy visit to Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman, and Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, to discuss the Foundation’s support for the Nigerian Web Design Standard (NWDS), a key initiative aimed at unifying the design and functionality of government websites across Nigeria to improve digital public service delivery. Our collaboration with the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation will support the implementation of this critical initiative over the next few months.

Wednesday, April 16 – Strengthening Universal Access and Infrastructure

• On Wednesday, Dr. Tijani received updates from the project team responsible for enhancing the operations of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF). The USPF is a key driver in our mission to ensure universal access to ICTs in rural and underserved communities across Nigeria.
• He later featured in a virtual interview session with the team from VivaTech, ahead of Nigeria’s participation at the event in Paris, France in June 2025. VivaTech is Europe’s largest startup and technology forum.
• Following this, he held a progress meeting with the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Committee, which includes representatives from the Ministry, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB). The committee briefed him on current workstreams supporting the development of a unified national DPI framework.
• Later, he received in his office Mohamad Darwish, Chief Executive Officer, IHS Nigeria, accompanied by Kazeem Oladepo, Chief Operating Officer, IHS Nigeria who came to provide updates on their current collaboration on our infrastructure-related projects.
• The Honourable Minister’s final engagement of the day was a courtesy call on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, at the National Assembly.