During the deployment last week of a pilot telecommunications tower in the community of Kura on the outskirts of Abuja, ICT Minister Bosun Tijani announced the upcoming installation of 7,000 new towers in underserved areas.

The Tinubu Administration aims to connect as many Nigerians as possible to telecom services. To do this, the Nigerian authorities want to provide access to the network to 20 million people who are still excluded from the digital ecosystem. The deployment announced by the minister is an integral part of an access program supported by the Universal Service Fund (USPF) and carried out in partnership with local telecom operators. The infrastructures will be deployed in more than 2,000 rural localities where connectivity remains below the national average. By 2027, the authorities intend to connect 80% of the country's population estimated at around 228 million by the World Bank in 2023.

This project meets the country's vision of building an inclusive and competitive digital economy. In the medium term, strengthening telecom infrastructures could support initiatives in connected agriculture, rural e-commerce or even e-government