Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani says that the Nigeria’s Communications and Digital Economy sector attracted $191m in foreign direct investment in the first quarter of 2024, which is a ninefold increase from $22m in Q1 2023.
disclosed this during an interview for an upcoming State House documentary marking President Tinubu’s second anniversary.
The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the Nigerian President, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement that the minister said in an interview on Monday that the sector’s robust workforce development, driven by the three million technical talent programme.
According to the statement, the minister disclosed plans for a $2bn initiative to deploy 90,000km of fibre optic infrastructure nationwide, starting in Q4 2025.
“These foundational reforms, coupled with advancements in artificial intelligence and the startup ecosystem, have positioned Nigeria as a global leader in the digital economy,” Tijani said.
“In Q1 2023, the sector had about $22m; by Q1 2024, with this administration well underway, we reached $191m. The trend continued in Q2, increasing from $25m in 2023 to $114m in 2024,” the statement quoted the minister as saying.
The minister also said that the 3MTT programme, launched in October 2023 to create a tech-savvy workforce, had trained more than 117,000 Nigerians in digital skills, surpassing its initial target of 30,000.
By last year, we had already moved that to over 117,000. With an additional 35,000 in training, the programme is nearing 10 per cent of its 3m goal. And in the rest of the time in office, we hope to reach the three million,” he said.
Regarding connectivity, Tijani announced that Project Bridge—focused on deploying 90,000km of fibre optic cable—will commence in the fourth quarter.
“We are preparing a $2bn investment to ensure every Nigerian can access affordable, high-quality connectivity regardless of location. Increasing connectivity hubs by just 10 per cent could yield a 2.5 per cent GDP growth,” he said.
Tijani celebrated Nigeria’s ranking among the world’s top 60 countries for AI readiness and developing a homegrown large language model.
He also highlighted the launch of the AI Collective platform, supported by leading partners including Pierre Omidyar, Google, and Microsoft, to foster collaboration and innovation in artificial intelligence.
For the first time in the country, the ministry has funded 55 academic researchers to explore technology applications in agriculture, healthcare, and education. In addition, N300m was invested in 10 startups using AI and blockchain to enhance agricultural productivity.
He projected the sector’s GDP contribution to rise from 16 per cent to 22 per cent, stating: “If a sector can increase its contribution by three to four per cent to the GDP, we’re about to see the economic growth—we’ve not seen it before. Technology allows us to bridge the gap between governments and the people.”
Tijani said the government is not chasing quick wins. “The results we want to provide for Nigeria are long-lasting reforms that will transform our economy for generations to come”.
GIK/APA