EU SUPPORTS NIGERIA’S PROJECT BRIDGE WITH €22M GRANT AS EBRD LAUNCHES FIRST SOVEREIGN OPERATION By Raymond Enoch

In what signals a bold leap for Nigeria’s digital transformation drive, the European Union has committed a €22 million grant to back a major fibre-optic expansion project championed by the Federal Government, marking a watershed moment in the country’s partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The grant, announced in Abuja on Wednesday, will be channelled through the EBRD and on-granted to the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy under the government-backed BRIDGE Project. It complements an €86 million sovereign loan from the EBRD — its first high-profile sovereign operation in Nigeria since the country became a shareholder of the bank last year.

The financing arrangement, coming on the heels of Nigeria’s formal entry into the EBRD fold, is being widely interpreted in diplomatic and financial circles as a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s digital economy agenda and the Federal Government’s push to expand broadband access nationwide.

Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, described the signing as a critical milestone in the race to deliver Project BRIDGE on schedule.
“We recognise this signing as an important part of our efforts to deliver Project BRIDGE on time. I am particularly grateful for our ongoing cooperation with the EU, and their commitment to a higher level of engagement this year,” Tijani said. “We look forward to ensuring that 2026 will be a year of delivery on this and other areas of cooperation with the EU.”

The announcement coincided with the visit to Nigeria of EBRD President, Odile Renaud-Basso, underscoring the strategic weight attached to the operation.

Renaud-Basso said the bank was proud to partner with the EU in advancing Nigeria’s digital backbone, noting that the technical cooperation framework would catalyse private investment and guarantee inclusive, resilient and cyber-secure connectivity across the country.

At the heart of the initiative is the planned roll-out of 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable nationwide through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) structured with 51 per cent private sector participation. The EBRD loan will sit alongside expected sovereign financing support from the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

EU Ambassador to Nigeria, Gautier Mignot, framed the project as part of a broader strategic alignment between Abuja and Brussels.
“Digital has emerged as one of the strategic areas of partnership between Nigeria and the EU,” Mignot stated. “Both Nigeria and the European Union share the critical importance of trusted and resilient networks, with the highest level of integrity and reliability, operating at the highest international standards.”

Beyond financing, the €22 million EU package blends investment support with technical assistance. It will fund low-level design work for the first 40,000 kilometres of the network — including route surveys, digital mapping, quality control systems and security risk assessments — effectively delivering a ready-to-deploy blueprint once full financing and SPV structures are finalised.

In practical terms, the intervention goes further. The grant will support the training of 2,000 technicians, provide targeted equipment subsidies, and assist smaller subcontractors to access pooled procurement systems.

Officials estimate the measures could cut rollout costs by as much as 20 to 30 per cent while ensuring compliance with both Nigerian and EU technical standards.

Observers in the Industry say the structure of the deal — particularly the cybersecurity and open-access compliance conditions attached to the EBRD loan — reflects a deliberate effort to anchor Nigeria’s digital infrastructure expansion on transparency, competition and global best practice.

For Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and one of its fastest-growing digital markets, the project represents more than cables in the ground. It is about closing connectivity gaps, deepening digital public services, and positioning the country as a continental technology hub.

For the EU and the EBRD, it is a strategic bet — one that intertwines development finance, private capital mobilisation and geopolitical partnership under Europe’s Global Gateway strategy.
If executed as planned, Project BRIDGE may well become the fibre spine on which Nigeria’s digital future is built.