Telecommunications and digital infrastructure stakeholders in Nigeria have called for a shift in the country’s rural connectivity strategy, urging industry players and policymakers to prioritise affordable access and actual usage of digital services over network coverage alone.
The stakeholders made the call at the second edition of the Rural Connectivity Summit, RuralConnect 2.0, organised by Business Metrics Limited in Lagos, where industry participants examined the infrastructure, financing, electricity and policy challenges limiting digital inclusion in underserved communities.
Held under the theme, “Rural Inclusion at Scale: Connecting the Next 25 Million Users for Frontier Market Growth,” the summit brought together regulators, government agencies, telecommunications operators, infrastructure providers, satellite companies, technology firms and investors to discuss sustainable approaches to expanding connectivity across rural Nigeria.
Tony Emoekpere, president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said the industry needed to look beyond the number of communities covered by telecommunications networks and assess whether residents could afford devices, purchase data and meaningfully use available digital services.
“We need to move away from coverage and think about how to ensure that people in rural communities use the technology services rendered to them,” he said.
Emoekpere identified the cost of smartphones and internet data as significant barriers preventing rural residents from participating fully in the digital economy, arguing that the presence of network infrastructure does not necessarily translate into meaningful connectivity.
He also called for a shift in the commercial approach to rural network deployment, suggesting that telecommunications operators should consider institutions such as schools, primary healthcare centres, local government facilities and agricultural cooperatives as anchor customers.
According to him, connecting multiple institutions through a single rural telecommunications site could create more predictable demand and revenue, improving the commercial viability of investments in underserved areas.
“A site that connects a school, a primary health care centre, a local government and a farm cooperative can enter the phase of revenue from day one. And that can serve as a sustainability,” he said.
The ATCON president further advocated coordinated planning of electricity and telecommunications infrastructure, proposing that mini-grid developments should incorporate opportunities to power connectivity sites.
The relationship between electricity access and telecommunications deployment featured prominently at the summit, with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) highlighting the financial and operational burden of relying on diesel generators to power rural base stations.
In his keynote address, Abba Aliyu, managing director and chief executive officer of REA, disclosed that Nigeria has more than 11,000 rural base stations, with an estimated 40 million litres of diesel consumed monthly to power a significant proportion of the facilities.
Aliyu, who was represented by Umar Umar, the agency’s executive director of technical services, described reliable electricity as a critical requirement for expanding rural connectivity and reducing the cost of operating telecommunications infrastructure.
“Across the digital sector, when you are talking about rural base stations and rural connectivity, we have about over 11,000 rural base stations. And it’s estimated that over 40 million litres of diesel are consumed every month on powering a lot of these rural base stations,” he said.
He disclosed that REA and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) were working to integrate electricity infrastructure with telecommunications networks to improve the sustainability of rural connectivity projects.
According to him, the collaboration has progressed from mapping rural mini-grids and telecommunications base stations to evaluating potential business models and preparing pilot projects involving network operators, tower companies and mini-grid developers.
Aliyu also highlighted existing government-backed electrification interventions, including the Nigeria Electrification Project, under which approximately 380 grant agreements have been signed, more than 150 hybrid solar mini-grids commissioned and about 1.45 million solar home systems deployed.
He added that the $750 million World Bank-funded Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) programme is expected to support the deployment of 1,350 mini-grids, including 250 interconnected mini-grids, with the broader objective of extending new electricity access to approximately 17.5 million Nigerians.
Beyond power supply, stakeholders at the summit stressed the need to address the operational and financial difficulties that often undermine rural telecommunications investments.
Tola Yusuf, founding partner of Infratel Africa, said the challenge facing Nigeria was not the absence of workable solutions but the difficulty of implementing them effectively and sustainably.
Speaking on the realities of rural connectivity deployment, Yusuf identified five critical factors determining the success of rural networks: power, payback, permits, protection and people.
“Building a rural site is hard. Keeping it alive is harder,” he said.
He advocated solar-powered infrastructure, more viable financing arrangements, faster approval processes, stronger protection of telecommunications assets and greater community participation in the deployment and maintenance of rural networks.
Drawing on findings from his doctoral research, Yusuf said stakeholders generally recognised the importance of blended finance, infrastructure sharing, renewable energy and community involvement in expanding connectivity. However, he noted that weaknesses in funding, coordination and timely implementation continued to limit the impact of these approaches.
“Nigeria does not have an ideas problem. We have an execution problem,” he said.
Yusuf urged policymakers and investors to place greater emphasis on measurable outcomes, including network uptime, service affordability and connectivity for essential public institutions such as schools and healthcare centres.
“Fund the service. Reward the outcome,” he said.
He also cautioned that investments in national broadband infrastructure would not automatically deliver connectivity to rural communities without deliberate plans for extending networks to the last mile.
Using Project BRIDGE, which plans to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic infrastructure, as an example, he said extending backbone connectivity to local government headquarters would not necessarily ensure that surrounding villages were connected.
“Reaching the LGA headquarters is not reaching the village. The backbone creates capacity. The last mile creates inclusion,” Yusuf said.
Meanwhile, Olusola Teniola, director of strategic business initiatives at ipNX Nigeria, called for financing arrangements that reflect the long-term nature of telecommunications infrastructure investments, particularly through access to funding denominated in naira.
He also emphasised the importance of supporting indigenous technology and infrastructure companies capable of delivering connectivity in difficult last-mile environments.
Teniola further called for stronger local internet peering and greater use of local content, arguing that rural communities should have a meaningful role in shaping policies and strategies intended to improve their access to digital services.
“Those policies and strategies need to be intentional, otherwise we will keep going round in circles,” he said.
In his welcome address, Omobayo Azeez, convener of RuralConnect 2.0, said rural connectivity had evolved beyond a telecommunications concern, given its direct implications for economic opportunities, education, healthcare, agriculture, financial inclusion and access to public services.
He identified high infrastructure deployment costs, unreliable electricity, difficult terrain, inadequate backbone infrastructure and uncertainty over commercial returns as major obstacles to expanding telecommunications services in underserved communities.
Azeez said the summit was designed to encourage stakeholders to move beyond discussions about the need for connectivity and focus on practical measures that could accelerate deployment and ensure long-term sustainability.
“This is why RuralConnect seeks to move the conversation from connectivity as an aspiration to connectivity as an actionable development agenda,” he said.
The discussions at RuralConnect 2.0 underscored the need for a coordinated approach involving telecommunications operators, government agencies, electricity providers, investors and local communities to close Nigeria’s rural digital divide.
The stakeholders argued that expanding network infrastructure would remain insufficient unless it was accompanied by reliable power, affordable devices and data, sustainable funding models and business strategies capable of supporting continuous service delivery in rural areas.
