MainOne, Facebook invest $20m on Edo fiber

Godwin Obaseki, governor, Edo State, has disclosed that MainOne and Facebook have invested $20m for the development of terrestrial fiber infrastructure in the state.

Obaseki made the disclosure in Dubai, United Araba Emirates (UAE), after attending the ninth edition of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM), themed, “Mapping the Future of Foreign Direct Investment: Enriching World Economies through Digital Globalization.”

In an interview, the governor said Edo State was being positioned to be the digital hub for the South South geo-political zone.

“Today, we have an innovation hub, we are partnering with technology companies. But what is even more important is that we are working with Facebook and MainOne.

“We are constructing about 400 kilometers of fiber in Edo as we speak. In the next couple of months, it should be ready for commissioning. Don’t forget that we also have energy, we have a lot of oil and gas and therefore we are building power plants, outside Azura, we are also building another 55 megawatts of power. With electricity and fiber, we are 50 percent there.

“All we need to do is to get the content providers, get our educational system to be in tuned. Facebook and MainOne, I think they have invested in excess of $20m”, he said.

On the AIM, the Edo governor said,” The global economic growth now is coming more from the digital transactions from digital economies and it’s important that emerging markets key in. So this summit is very apt to profit on our future”.