Nigeria's 90,000km Fibre Backbone SPV Still Unincorporated
Nigeria's planned 90,000km national fibre backbone remains stalled with its special purpose vehicle still unincorporated, a procedural delay that is emerging as the primary bottleneck for the country's broadband ambitions. Industry body BRIDGE has separately quantified the required pace of deployment at up to 90 kilometres of fibre per day to meet the government's 2030 digital economy goals.
Project BRIDGE: $1.6 billion raised, company not yet formed
Nigeria has secured financing commitments from the World Bank, the African Development Bank and others — $1.6 billion in total — for a fibre project whose implementing company does not legally exist yet.
That is the real bottleneck. Not the money. Not even the engineering, though BRIDGE's own documents put the required construction pace at up to 90 kilometres of fibre every day for nearly five years — a genuinely demanding target.
But you cannot sign contracts, hire contractors or break ground without a legal entity. Every day the SPV stays unincorporated is a day the clock runs on a 2030 deadline that already requires a sprint.
2 sources
- BRIDGE: Nigeria must lay up to 90km of fibre every day to meet 2030 digital economy goal · businessday.ng · T2
- Nigeria’s 90,000km fibre project awaits incorporation of SPV · techcabal.com · T1