Minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy,Bosun Tijani says the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a $100 million investment in Nigeria’s Project BRIDGE, the federal government’s fibre-optic expansion programme.. The Cable can report
Tijani announced the approval in a post on X on Wednesday.
“As we conclude the final leg of our Project BRIDGE Investment Tour in Europe this week, following several extremely positive engagements, I am pleased to confirm the formal approval by the Board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to proceed with a $100 million investment in Project BRIDGE,” the minister posted.
The minister said the funding is in addition to the $500 million financing earlier approved by the World Bank Group for the project.
He also said the European Union committed a €22 million grant to the project under a broader €45 million digital economy package.
According to Tijani, the package includes €18 million for digital public services and €5 million to support the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme.
He said the approvals followed a two-week investment tour across six European countries aimed at securing partnerships to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable nationwide.
The federal government, on August 5, 2025, unveiled project BRIDGE as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to attract private sector funding and expertise.
The project is expected to boost internet penetration by 70 percent and 80 percent for underserved populations by 2027
