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Nigerians in the country may not need a backup for their backup internet provider much longer. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has approved a $100 million investment into the government’s broadband expansion project, Project BRIDGE.

Communications Minister Bosun Tijani announced the funding after what appears to have been an extensive European investment tour. The new financing stacks on top of the $500 million already secured from the World Bank Group, while the European Union is contributing an additional €22 million ($25,970,450) grant under its wider €45 million digital economy support package for Nigeria.

Great news, but wth is Project BRIDGE?

Nigeria’s economic conversation has long focused on power plants, refineries, and highways. Project BRIDGE represents an acknowledgement that economic growth increasingly runs on connectivity. It is the federal government’s attempt to fix one of Nigeria’s quietest but most expensive problems: slow and unreliable internet access.

The plan is to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable across the country, so internet providers can deliver faster and cheaper broadband, especially outside major cities.

If executed properly, the project aims to expand connectivity to underserved communities and significantly increase national broadband access within the next few years.

Why Europe Is Interested

For international lenders, broadband has officially graduated from “luxury” tech to core economic investment.

The EU’s broader €45 million digital package also includes funding for digital public services and Nigeria’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, which is meant to grow the country’s tech workforce alongside the infrastructure rollout.

This is all a home run because faster internet enables startups, digital payments, remote work, online education, and government services that don’t require travelling across state lines.

TL;DR: Nigeria just scored major wins for its internet future: $100 million from the EBRD, $500 million from the World Bank, and €22 million from the EU are fueling Project BRIDGE, the federal government’s plan to improve connection and expand broadband to underserved areas. The project aims to grow Nigeria’s tech workforce and power startups, digital payments, remote work, and online government services. Basically, for the first time, Nigeria is treating internet access as core infrastructure, not a luxury, and Europe has put €45 million on the table to support the mission for better connectivity for everyone.

😮‍💨 The US tariff ups and downs: Exports to the US are now facing a new 10% global tariff, replacing US President Donald Trump’s original tariff structure, which the US Supreme Court vetoed. Under Trump’s previous plan, certain Nigerian goods (like cocoa, palm oil, and other non-oil exports) were hit with 15% tariffs. Now, they’ll pay the 10% surcharge on top of any standard US duties. The old emergency tariffs are gone, leaving exporters with a single, predictable rate. For businesses navigating the US market, it’s a bit less chaotic than before, though the US remains wobbly, so further changes are probably inevitable. Let’s just hope they don’t get too turbulent.

☀️Booming Solar economy: Nigeria has surpassed Egypt to become Africa’s second-largest importer of solar panels, as businesses and households increasingly ditch generators for solar-plus-battery setups. The push was inspired by subsidy removals, falling panel and battery costs, and plans for a 1 GW solar factory, the largest in West Africa. Across the continent, everyone is switching to solar energy, and China remains the main supplier. While Africa builds its own manufacturing capacity, the industry is already creating jobs in financing, maintenance and installation.

📈Nigerian Breweries is back and pouring profits: The country’s largest brewer, part of the Heineken family, posted a staggering 194% jump in operating profit, hitting N205.2 billion in 2025, thanks to a 35% revenue surge to N1.467 trillion. The rebound comes after two rough years of inflation, currency swings, and macroeconomic turbulence, but Nigerian Breweries’ business recovery plan has clearly paid off.

The Nigerian Federal Government is negotiating up to $5.7 billion in strategic investments from China’s GCL Group, as part of a push to deepen industrial capacity and reduce reliance on raw commodity exports. Finance Minister Wale Edun hosted the delegation in Abuja.

The proposed package spans power generation, mineral processing, and industrial manufacturing. The FG says these sectors are central to repositioning Nigeria from an exporter of raw materials to actually making finished goods in-house. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Nigeria has been on this hamster wheel for decades. The difference this time is the size of the number being floated.

What happened in that room?

According to officials, the proposals include large-scale energy generation projects, local mineral processing facilities, and new factories aimed at boosting exports and employment. The first order of business is steel and aluminium production. In separate talks, Steel Development Minister Shuaibu Audu said GCL executives expressed interest in developing greenfield steel plants, aluminium facilities, and exploring raw materials critical to both industries.

There is also talk of reviving legacy assets like the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, and even developing an LNG plant. Translation: the FG is about to stitch together power, mining, and heavy industry into something that resembles a coherent industrial policy.

Why this is a big deal now

Nigeria’s economic reforms (including subsidy removal and FX polishing) have been sold as painful but necessary resets. The government is now under pressure to show that those reforms are attracting real capital, not just a pat on the back from international policy communities. A $5.7 billion commitment from a major Chinese industrialist would be great PR.

Energy remains one of the country’s biggest bottlenecks. Manufacturing remains underdeveloped. And exporting unprocessed raw materials continues to cap how much value Nigeria captures from its natural resources. A deal of this scale could address all three, if all goes well.

It also signals that Beijing’s commercial interest in Nigeria remains strong. While Western investors have grown cautious amid macroeconomic volatility, Chinese firms continue to look for long-term industrial footholds across Africa.

For now, this is still a negotiation. There are no disclosed timelines, no detailed breakdown of project sequencing, and no clarity on the financing structure. It’s unclear whether this will be in the form of equity investments, concessional loans, public-private partnerships, or some mix of all three.

Cautiously optimistic

Nigeria has a long history of ambitious industrial announcements that struggled at the execution stage, so we will hold our breath on this one until we see the turbines built, factories completed, and production actually begin.