The incoming Nigerian president should revise the country’s broadband penetration targets to more realistic levels, make public subsidy available, and consider a range of
alternative technologies to improve the development of Nigeria’s broadband infrastructure.”
Earlier this year, Muhammadu Buhari became the president of Nigeria, defeating incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in the national elections. In 2013, the outgoing president had
approved publication of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP 2013–2018) which set out ambitious targets to improve the penetration of broadband infrastructure. Given
the levels of broadband take-up that have been achieved to date, our analysis suggests that the targets were over-ambitious and unachievable. Further, it is unlikely that the targets
can be met through market investment alone, and so there will be a need for significant government subsidy. This article argues that to improve the development of and investment
in broadband infrastructure the incoming president should revise the targets to more realistic levels, make public subsidy available and consider a range of alternative technologies.
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