Nigeria explores fibre expansion to slash Burkina Faso costs

Nigeria is considering new fiber optic routes through neighboring Niger and Benin to significantly reduce internet connectivity costs for landlocked Burkina Faso. This initiative is part of Nigeria's broader strategy to expand its digital infrastructure beyond its borders and enhance connectivity across the West African and Sahel regions.

Following discussions in Ouagadougou, Nigeria's Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, announced that both countries would examine two potential corridors. One route would traverse Niger, while the second would pass through Benin. A joint Technical Working Committee will be established to develop a framework for this proposed partnership.

The primary objective is to determine if these routes can offer Burkina Faso, a nation of approximately 25 million people, a more affordable and resilient pathway to international internet connectivity. Tijani indicated that the ambition is to reduce Burkina Faso's internet costs by up to 50 percent, although this figure represents a potential saving currently under assessment.

This proposal builds upon Nigeria's Project BRIDGE (Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth), which aims to expand the country's open-access fiber infrastructure nationwide. The project targets the deployment of about 90,000 km of fiber across Nigeria, connecting all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The initiative underscores Nigeria's ambition to leverage its growing digital infrastructure to support regional connectivity, particularly for landlocked nations like Burkina Faso that lack direct access to undersea cables.

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Beyond delivering faster, more affordable and resilient internet for Nigerians, our teams will also model connectivity routes through Nigeria–Niger–Burkina Faso and Nigeria–Benin–Burkina Faso. He said the exercise had the ambition of identifying a pathway to reduce the cost of internet connectivity in Burkina Faso by as much as 50 per cent.