Omobola Johnson, Nigeria’s Minister of Communication Technology, announced that the federal government is seeking a $25Bn foreign direct investment into the country’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.
The announcement follows on the launch of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan which aims to transition the country from slow low-capacity copper wire to fibre-optic systems, while ensuring rural communities are not excluded from accessing the technology. A campaign titled “Connected Nigeria, Connected Nigerians’, will also promote the social and economic benefits of broadband.
“We need $25 billion more in the next few years into the country. As I speak with you, the NCC is going around, as the ministry also does, to win more investors into the country to boost broadband penetration in Nigeria,” commented Johnson.
Johnson is chair of The Broadband Council, which was inaugurated in July 2013 to oversee and ensure efficiency in the roll out of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan, set to take place between 2013 and 2018.
The council has already seen progress in getting states like Lagos, which have reduced or removed Right of Way charges(fees paid by companies for permits to build infrastructure), in order for operators to lay fibre optic cables.
