FG Incorporates Bridge Open Access to Deliver 90,000km Fibre Network
By Aboki Forex —
The Federal Government has incorporated Bridge Open Access (Bridge OA), the independent company created to deliver Nigeria’s planned 90,000-kilometre nationwide fibre-optic network under Project BRIDGE. The development moves the $2 billion Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth (BRIDGE) project into its execution phase.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, announced the incorporation on Saturday, saying the new company provides the institutional platform needed to move the project from planning and financing into actual implementation.
What the minister said
“Today, Nigeria has reached another major milestone in the delivery of Project BRIDGE with the incorporation of Bridge Open Access (Bridge OA), the independent company that will deliver one of Africa’s largest open access fibre infrastructure programmes,” Tijani said in a post on X.
He said the incorporation gives the project the institutional structure required to bring in private investors. “This marks the transition from planning to execution, creating the institutional platform that will complete strategic investor onboarding, accelerate nationwide broadband deployment, and position Nigeria as a regional digital connectivity hub for West Africa,” he added.
Project BRIDGE is structured as a public-private partnership. According to the April 2026 investor prequalification notice, the Federal Government will hold between 25% and 49% of the SPV, while private-sector investors will hold at least 51%.
Timeline and funding
The Federal Executive Council approved the SPV in 2024, and Tijani announced the approval in May 2024. The project will add 90,000 kilometres to the current 35,000-kilometre fibre network, taking the combined national backbone to about 125,000 kilometres. It is also expected to connect more than 200,000 educational, healthcare and social institutions.
Funding has been secured from multiple development partners. In October 2025, the World Bank approved $500 million. In February 2026, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved a $100 million sovereign loan, and the European Union announced a €22 million grant. In April 2026, the African Development Bank approved another $200 million loan.
In August 2024, Tijani said development-finance partners were working to finalise the SPV structure and deployment was expected to begin within six months. In March 2025, the ministry opened an investor consultation process. By May 2026, EBRD procurement documents showed technical preparations were continuing.
What it means for connectivity
Nigeria currently has 101,148.36 kilometres of fibre-optic cable across its 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, but a significant share is concentrated in Lagos and Abuja. Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission shows Lagos and the FCT account for 18,559.83 kilometres, or 18.35% of the total.
Project BRIDGE aims to correct that imbalance by extending open-access fibre infrastructure beyond the major commercial and administrative centres. For Nigerian businesses, broader fibre coverage means lower connectivity costs and more reliable access to digital services in underserved regions, which could support job creation and economic activity outside the big cities. For consumers, it holds the promise of faster, cheaper internet once the network is fully deployed.