Nigeria’s push for rural telecom expansion is driving the search for hybrid financing models that blend public and private capital. By leveraging community ownership and shared investment, the government hopes to bridge connectivity gaps, empower local networks and accelerate digital inclusion across underserved regions, ADEYEMI ADEPETUN reports.

Nigeria’s drive to extend telecommunications services to underserved communities is forcing a rethink of how rural connectivity projects are financed, as policymakers and investors explore hybrid models that combine public and private capital with community ownership.

The challenge is no longer simply putting infrastructure in place. It ensures that millions of Nigerians living in rural and remote communities can afford to use networks, access digital services, and participate meaningfully in the digital economy.

While urban centres have witnessed rapid growth in mobile connectivity and Internet penetration, large parts of rural Nigeria remain poorly served by broadband infrastructure, affordable devices and reliable electricity.

The digital divide has implications beyond communications. Limited connectivity restricts access to education, healthcare, financial services, markets, and employment, while weakening rural communities’ capacity to participate in an increasingly digital economy.

The need for fresh investment in Nigeria’s $76 billion telecommunications sector was a major focus of the recently held Nigeria Digital Connectivity Investment Forum, organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in partnership with Swedfund and Ookla.

The forum brought together government officials, investors, infrastructure providers and international partners under the theme, ‘Unlocking Infrastructure Investment through Data, Transparency and Partnerships.’

One of the recurring issues was the urgency of extending meaningful connectivity to rural communities.

For a country where mobile broadband covers about 90 per cent of the population, but smartphone ownership is only 27 per cent, the challenge is increasingly shifting from network coverage to actual usage.

Rural Nigeria: The last frontier
NIGERIA’s telecommunications industry contributed 9.72 per cent to real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2026, while teledensity stood at about 90 per cent as of July.

Yet, the growth has not translated into universal access. The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) estimates that about 23 million Nigerians remain either unserved or underserved.

The communiqué issued after the forum and signed by NCC Director, Public Affairs, Nnenna Ukoha, noted that “usage, rather than coverage, is now the larger gap.”

This reflects a growing paradox in Nigeria’s digital transformation: network signals may be available in some communities, but high device costs, inadequate digital skills, affordability constraints and limited trust in online services prevent many people from using them. Two major constraints are particularly important for rural deployment: electricity and middle-mile connectivity.

For tower companies, the forum noted, power is no longer merely a supporting requirement but a central component of the business. Without reliable and affordable electricity, rural telecom sites become expensive to operate.

Similarly, inadequate inland fibre infrastructure limits rural communities’ ability to connect to national networks and keeps high-capacity digital infrastructure concentrated around major urban centres such as Lagos and Abuja.

The forum, therefore, called for energy and connectivity investments to be planned together, with clusters of telecom towers serving as anchor off-takers for distributed renewable-energy projects.

Such an approach could turn rural telecom sites into hubs for both connectivity and clean energy while reducing operating costs and improving sustainability.

Project BRIDGE and the middle-mile gap
ANOTHER major initiative is Project BRIDGE, Nigeria’s planned 90,000-kilometre national fibre backbone.

For rural communities, the project could provide the missing link between national networks and local access points.

Participants urged the Federal Government to accelerate implementation, arguing that without a robust middle-mile network, rural broadband expansion would remain patchy, costly and unreliable.

The middle-mile challenge is particularly important because extending fibre to every individual community is unlikely to be commercially viable without a broader backbone capable of carrying traffic at affordable wholesale rates.

The emergence of shared rural networks offers another possible route to closing the gap. Under the model, multiple operators can share infrastructure, reducing duplication and lowering the cost of serving communities that may not generate sufficient revenue to support separate networks.

The approach could be complemented by solar-powered sites, satellite services and micro-cabling, creating lower-cost options for communities that have historically been difficult to serve.

The forum recommended that funding for community-owned rural networks powered by renewable energy be secured within six months, with support from the USPF and state governments.

Such arrangements could give communities a greater stake in the infrastructure serving them while improving the commercial viability of rural deployments.

But financing remains a major obstacle. Telecom infrastructure is a long-life asset, with towers and fibre capable of serving communities for 20 to 30 years. Financing them predominantly with short-term bank loans, often with five-year tenors, creates a fundamental mismatch between the asset’s lifespan and the repayment period.

Participants therefore called for longer-tenor naira financing, blended-finance structures and credit enhancements to make rural telecom projects more bankable.

Development finance institutions were also urged to link funding to independently verified network performance, thereby strengthening accountability and investor confidence.

The argument is that rural connectivity may not deliver immediate commercial returns, but its wider economic benefits — from improved agricultural markets to financial inclusion and education — can accumulate over decades.

States hold a key to fibre expansion
STATE governments also have an important role to play. Evidence from the pilot Nigeria Digital Connectivity Index covering 12 states showed that states that reformed Right of Way charges recorded fibre growth of between 22 per cent and 95 per cent.

The number of states charging zero fees has risen to 12, from seven in 2024. Lower Right-of-Way costs can make it more attractive for operators to extend fibre to smaller towns and rural communities.

The forum consequently urged more states to adopt the Federal Government’s model, under which operators laying fibre are also responsible for reinstating roads and other infrastructure affected by the work.

The model is intended to reduce permitting delays, lower costs, and accelerate deployment.
Beyond coverage to actual usage

Even with expanded networks, however, rural inclusion will remain incomplete unless Nigerians can afford the devices required to use them.

With smartphone ownership at only 27 per cent, millions of Nigerians remain effectively excluded from broadband services even where network coverage exists.

The communiqué therefore recommended that coverage investments be accompanied by measures to make affordable devices available, including locally manufactured phones and SIMs.

The implication is that rural connectivity policy must move beyond towers and fibre to consider the entire digital-access chain — infrastructure, devices, electricity, affordability, skills and relevant online services.

At the forum, Bolaji Balogun of Chapel Hill Denham stressed the need for investable projects and greater capital market participation, while Bismarck Rewane of FCMB highlighted the importance of digital infrastructure for productivity and economic growth.

For rural Nigeria, the stakes are particularly high. Reliable broadband can help farmers access market information, enable traders to reach customers beyond their immediate communities, expand access to financial services and provide students with educational resources.

It could also become increasingly important to Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area, as digital platforms become more important to cross-border commerce.

The road ahead
THE communiqué set out a series of timelines for implementation.

Within six months, stakeholders are expected to secure funding for community co-owned rural networks powered by renewable energy.

Within six to 18 months, authorities are expected to issue open-access regulations, publish wholesale rate cards and complete broadband mapping.

Within 18 to 24 months, a financing framework for telecom power is expected to be established, alongside the development of metro and access fibre under concession arrangements.

If implemented, the measures could significantly expand rural connectivity by 2028.

But the success of the strategy will ultimately depend on coordination between government, regulators, investors, telecom operators, infrastructure companies and communities.

The NCC has committed to continued stakeholder engagement, further reforms and publication of the first national Nigeria Digital Connectivity Index report.

For rural Nigeria, the real test will not be the speed of 5G networks in Lagos or Abuja. It will be whether a farmer in Katsina, a trader in Zamfara or a student in Ebonyi can access affordable and reliable broadband.

That is the measure by which Nigeria’s digital transformation will ultimately be judged.