The United States and Nigeria have entered into an agreement that will facilitate a grant of $2,095,000 to assess the viability of the deployment of the 90,000 kilometres of new fibre optic backbone infrastructure across Nigeria.

This agreement was made during the inaugural U.S.-Nigeria Technology Dialogue held in Washington D.C.

The event was led by Deputy Secretary, Kurt Campbell, who hosted a senior Nigerian delegation headed by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani.

The dialogue served as a platform for both countries to address key opportunities and challenges in the digital transformation landscape.

The U.S.-Nigeria Technology Dialogue is designed to enhance bilateral cooperation in critical technology sectors, seize opportunities in technology and innovation and strengthen interagency collaboration and stakeholder engagement in both countries.

The objectives advance the Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA) initiative by facilitating a more conducive investment environment for digital transformation, promoting digital infrastructure and connectivity and supporting digital skills development and talent cultivation.

The project, funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, supports Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 with the goal to increase the country’s broadband penetration rate from 42.27 per cent to 70 per cent and to ensure that at least 90 per cent of Nigeria’s population has access to affordable and reliable broadband coverage.

During the Technology Dialogue, the parties discussed enhancing the resilience and security of essential services and facilities, promoting digital trade, e-commerce, and innovation-driven economic growth, developing a skilled workforce to meet the demands of the digital age, expanding our artificial intelligence partnership related to capacity building, infrastructure and rights-respecting approaches to governance as well as promoting information integrity.

Campbell emphasised the significance of this partnership, stating that the project would help improve digital infrastructure and connectivity, which are essential for the country’s economic growth.

He also noted that this initiative will support Nigeria’s broader goals of digital skills development and talent cultivation.

The programme featured a panel discussion on Advancing Public-Private Sector Investment in Innovation and Digital Talent Development. This panel highlighted opportunities for public-private partnership and investment solutions to spur innovation and promote digital talent development through the U.S.-Nigeria commercial partnership.

A second-panel discussion on the role of critical infrastructure in advancing the use of AI examined the interplay between the infrastructure that is essential to the development of AI and the governance frameworks that can help spur the deployment of emerging technologies to support inclusive growth.