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By Chinenye Anuforo
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Players in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem are worried about persistent internet deficit, insisting it is stalling the country’s push to become Africa’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) hub.
While several government-backed initiatives have been rolled out to expand digital skills, strengthen AI research and attract investment in emerging technologies, poor internet infrastructure is being fingered as the biggest obstacle to achieving that ambition.
Already, the federal government has launched the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS) to position Nigeria as a global leader in responsible AI innovation, but stakeholders argue that the country’s digital backbone remains too weak to buoy the computing power, cloud services and seamless connectivity required for AI to thrive.
For a fact, artificial intelligence relies on high-speed broadband, reliable cloud infrastructure and uninterrupted access to data. Whether training machine learning models, deploying AI-powered applications or conducting research, every stage of the AI ecosystem depends on fast and stable internet connectivity.
Recognising this, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), developed the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy to accelerate AI adoption across key sectors of the economy.
The strategy identifies broadband infrastructure, computing capacity, data centres and AI research as critical pillars for positioning Nigeria as Africa’s AI powerhouse.
The concerns over Nigeria’s digital infrastructure are not new. In an earlier Daily Sun investigation, industry leaders warned that the country was not investing enough in the broadband infrastructure needed to support an increasingly digital economy. They identified inadequate investment in telecommunications infrastructure, foreign exchange constraints facing operators, unreliable power supply, the high cost of expanding internet access to rural communities and weak consumer purchasing power as major obstacles to achieving the federal government’s broadband targets.
The report also highlighted concerns that internet penetration had declined despite ambitious government targets, raising questions about Nigeria’s readiness for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Technology entrepreneur and founder of NeuRaL AI, Oluseyi Akindeinde, warned that rising internet costs were becoming a major barrier to digital inclusion. Also commenting, Jide Awe, founder of Jidaw Systems Ltd, noted that prevailing economic realities could force many Nigerians to prioritise basic needs over internet access. Telecommunications analyst, Akinyemi Olabode, also observed that broadband expansion remained concentrated in urban centres, leaving many rural communities underserved.
Despite the government’s AI roadmap, the country’s broadband infrastructure continues to lag behind growing demand.
Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, described the gap between Nigeria’s internet usage and its fixed broadband infrastructure as a major challenge that must be urgently addressed.
Speaking at the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) Critical Conversation Forum on Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH), Maida revealed that although Nigeria had more than 154 million internet subscriptions as of April 2026, the country had only about 265,000 Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) subscribers, exposing the weakness of fixed broadband infrastructure at a time when cloud computing and AI applications are driving demand for high-speed connectivity.
“The quality of our work will increasingly shape the competitiveness of our businesses,” Maida said, stressing that broadband infrastructure should now be regarded as essential national infrastructure, just like roads, electricity and water.
He warned that persistent attacks on telecommunications infrastructure are further slowing broadband expansion.
According to him, operators recorded more than 27,000 fibre cuts, 27,000 access denials and over 4,200 cases of theft and vandalism affecting telecom infrastructure in 2025 alone, disrupting network services, increasing operational costs and discouraging investment in broadband deployment.
The broadband challenge extends beyond network coverage to affordability and accessibility. Experts argue that smartphones and internet data remain beyond the reach of many Nigerians, particularly low-income earners.
According to Dr. Aishah Jamilah, data affordability remains a critical roadblock, warning that without addressing the cost of internet access, national broadband targets would remain difficult to achieve. IT expert Femi Akinsanya maintained that the country’s broadband goals were achievable, but only through significant investments in infrastructure, affordable devices and stronger collaboration between government and the private sector.
Maida stressed that protecting telecom infrastructure has become imperative if Nigeria hopes to build the digital backbone required for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. He also pointed to the need for expanded fibre connectivity that reaches homes, schools, hospitals and businesses if Nigeria is to reap the full benefits of its digital economy.
President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Tony Emoekpere, said Nigeria’s digital future depends on stronger collaboration among operators.
According to him, poor infrastructure planning, duplication of fibre deployment and weak coordination among stakeholders are slowing broadband expansion. He advocated infrastructure sharing, common deployment standards and stronger industry collaboration to reduce costs, improve service quality and accelerate universal broadband penetration.
The industry has also identified structural challenges slowing fibre deployment across the country. Stakeholders pointed to high capital expenditure requirements, quality assurance concerns, poor coordination among operators and the challenge of maintaining fibre infrastructure as factors limiting broadband expansion. They warned that these obstacles continue to deny millions of Nigerians access to reliable internet services required for education, healthcare, remote work, digital commerce and AI-powered applications.
To close the infrastructure gap, the federal government has unveiled Project BRIDGE, a key initiative that aims to deploy about 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable across the country to improve broadband penetration and support emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing and advanced digital services.
The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy is also implementing the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme to equip young Nigerians with skills in artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing and software engineering, creating the human capital required for the country’s digital economy.
However, Ikechukwu Nnamani, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Realty Nigeria, disclosed that no data centre in Nigeria is currently AI-ready.
“There is no data centre in Nigeria today that is AI-ready. Local AI companies are creating solutions, but they are hosting abroad because the infrastructure here cannot support the kind of computing AI requires,” Nnamani said.
He warned that continued reliance on foreign infrastructure poses risks to Nigeria’s data sovereignty, local value creation and global competitiveness.
Nnamani further revealed that the scale of infrastructure required for artificial intelligence is enormous, noting that a single AI-ready data centre in South Africa is larger than the combined capacity of all data centres currently operating in Nigeria. He identified power supply as the biggest obstacle, explaining that powering a 100-megawatt AI-ready facility would require enormous investment where operators depend on self-generated electricity.
Also speaking during the session, Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, Managing Director of the Anambra State ICT Agency, argued that Nigeria cannot aspire to AI leadership while depending on foreign infrastructure to train its AI models.
“We cannot play at the level we aspire to if we cannot even power the GPUs needed to train our language models,” Agbata said, urging greater investment in local digital infrastructure, cloud services and computing capacity.
Beyond broadband connectivity, stakeholders say Nigeria must significantly expand its data centre capacity and high-performance computing infrastructure to meet the growing demands of AI development.
As AI applications become more sophisticated, access to local computing resources will be essential for startups, researchers and enterprises seeking to build innovative solutions.
The consequences are already evident. For startups, unreliable connectivity increases operating costs, delays product development and weakens their competitiveness in the global marketplace. Universities and research institutions face similar constraints as poor internet limits access to cloud platforms, international research databases and collaborative AI projects. Outside Nigeria’s major cities, limited broadband access also risks excluding millions of young Nigerians from participating in the emerging AI economy.
The federal government acknowledges these infrastructure gaps and says addressing them is central to implementing its AI strategy.
Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has repeatedly stressed that building a thriving AI ecosystem requires more than talent development. According to him, implementation of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy will focus on strengthening digital infrastructure, developing governance frameworks, supporting research and innovation and creating an enabling environment for responsible AI adoption across the public and private sectors.
The urgency is accentuated by global trends.
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), artificial intelligence, cloud computing and advanced digital services are driving unprecedented demand for reliable, high-capacity broadband networks. Countries that fail to invest in resilient digital infrastructure risk losing competitiveness in the global digital economy.
The evidence from regulators, telecommunications operators, technology entrepreneurs and digital infrastructure providers points to one unmistakable conclusion: Nigeria’s ambition to become Africa’s AI powerhouse will depend as much on the strength of its digital infrastructure as on the quality of its talent.
While the country boasts one of Africa’s largest technology ecosystems, a youthful population and growing government commitment to AI, stakeholders warn that these advantages could be undermined if broadband expansion, AI-ready data centres, cloud computing infrastructure and reliable electricity fail to keep pace with policy ambitions.
As countries across the world invest aggressively in digital infrastructure to support artificial intelligence, Nigeria faces a defining moment. The decisions taken on broadband, fibre-optic networks, computing capacity and data centres will determine whether the country becomes a producer of AI innovation or merely a consumer of technologies developed elsewhere.
