Jumoke Oduwole, minister of industry, trade and investment, says investments in digital connectivity must translate into higher productivity and tangible economic opportunities for Nigerians and businesses.
Gatekeepers News reports that Oduwole spoke on Tuesday in Abuja at the opening of the Nigeria Digital Connectivity Investment Forum organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in partnership with Swedfund and Ookla.
The minister said digital infrastructure had become critical to Nigeria’s investment climate, competitiveness and participation in global trade.
“When we speak of trade, we often think about ports, highways, rail corridors, and shipping routes. Those investments remain essential, but the nature of trade has changed,” Oduwole said.
She said fibre networks, data centres, cloud infrastructure, digital platforms, electronic payment systems and secure data infrastructure were increasingly essential to the movement of goods, services, capital and information.
“The opportunity spans data centres, cloud services, fibre, broadband infrastructure, digital platforms, fintech, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, digital logistics, and digitally delivered services,” the minister said.
Oduwole, however, cautioned that investments in infrastructure alone would not automatically translate into economic gains unless businesses could effectively use connectivity to access markets, make payments, comply with regulations, securely transfer data and deliver services across borders.
“Connectivity must translate into economic opportunity,” she said.
She called for greater policy predictability, regulatory coordination and stronger public-private partnerships to create an environment capable of supporting sustained investment in digital infrastructure.
Data consumption rises 47% to 1.66m terabytes
Aminu Maida, NCC executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer, said the forum provided an opportunity to assess the investment required to support the next phase of Nigeria’s digital connectivity as the country marks 25 years of GSM services.
Maida said data consumption had risen from about 1.13 million terabytes in July 2025 to 1.66 million terabytes in July 2026, representing an increase of almost 47 percent.
“Keeping pace will require sustained investment, both to expand networks and to improve the experience of people already connected,” he said.
The NCC chief executive said the commission was using network performance data, consumer complaints and other market information to identify service gaps and areas requiring additional investment.
Anna Westerholm, Swedish ambassador to Nigeria, said gaps remained in connectivity coverage, service quality, affordability and supporting infrastructure.
She said reliable energy supply, cybersecurity and digital skills were also critical to building a sustainable digital connectivity ecosystem.
“Sweden is interested in deepening commercial and investment relations with Nigeria, particularly in digitalisation and connectivity,” Westerholm said.
Tristan Muhader, vice-president of sales for Middle East and Africa at Ookla, said connectivity had become an important operating layer for economic and public activities, making network performance and resilience increasingly important.
He said Ookla’s collaboration with the NCC provided independent data on users’ connectivity experience and could help identify areas where infrastructure investment would have the greatest impact.
Representing Bosun Tijani, minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, Adetunji Adeyemo, director of the National Frequency Management Council, said reliable, affordable and resilient digital infrastructure was essential to Nigeria’s economic transformation.
He said the federal government had identified infrastructure, policy and innovation, entrepreneurship, and capital as key strategic priorities.
