Nigeria Fibre Expansion to Slash Burkina Faso Internet Costs

Nigeria, Africa’s largest telecom market, is exploring new fibre routes through Niger and Benin that could reduce the cost of internet connectivity in landlocked Burkina Faso by up to 50 per cent, as the government seeks to extend its digital infrastructure beyond the country’s borders.

The proposal is part of discussions between Nigeria and Burkina Faso on expanding digital cooperation, with Nigeria seeking to leverage its growing fibre infrastructure to improve connectivity across the wider West African and Sahel regions.

Speaking after discussions in Ouagadougou with Burkina Faso’s Minister for Digital Transition, Posts and Communication, Aminata Zerbo-Sabané, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said the two countries would examine two potential connectivity corridors.

One route would run from Nigeria through Niger to Burkina Faso, while the second would connect Nigeria to Burkina Faso through Benin. The countries will establish a Technical Working Committee to develop an implementation framework for the proposed partnership, Tijani wrote on LinkedIn.

The objective is to determine whether the routes can provide Burkina Faso, a country of about 25 million people, with a cheaper and more resilient path to international internet connectivity.

“Beyond delivering faster, more affordable and resilient internet for Nigerians, our teams will also model connectivity routes through Nigeria–Niger–Burkina Faso and Nigeria–Benin–Burkina Faso,” Tijani said.

He said the exercise had the ambition of identifying a pathway to reduce the cost of internet connectivity in Burkina Faso by as much as 50 per cent.

The proposed reduction is not yet an achieved saving. The two countries are still assessing the routes and developing the framework for implementation.

The proposal builds on Nigeria’s Project BRIDGE, short for Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth, which is being implemented to expand the country’s open-access fibre infrastructure.

The project is targeting about 90,000 km of fibre across Nigeria, covering the 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory, and the country’s 774 local government areas. It is designed to expand access to high-capacity broadband infrastructure and provide a backbone that telecommunications operators, internet providers, and other users can access.

Tijani’s comments suggest that Nigeria is also considering how this infrastructure could support connectivity beyond its own borders. That is particularly relevant to Burkina Faso, a landlocked country without direct access to undersea cables. Internet traffic from landlocked countries generally needs to travel through neighbouring countries before reaching international cable systems, making the availability, capacity, and cost of cross-border fibre routes important to the price and reliability of connectivity.

Nigeria, by contrast, has direct access to international submarine cable systems through its coastline and is investing in a much larger domestic fibre backbone. Connecting the two could create an alternative route for international internet traffic into Burkina Faso.

Tijani said the objective was to “leverage Nigeria’s growing digital infrastructure and capabilities to create shared prosperity across our borders, deepen regional economic integration, and position Nigeria as a trusted digital gateway to West Africa and the Sahel.”

The proposed routes could also improve resilience by giving Burkina Faso more than one potential path for carrying internet traffic. A network that relies on a single international route is more vulnerable to fibre cuts, equipment failures, and other disruptions.

Nigeria and Burkina Faso also plan to deepen cooperation on digital skills, technology startups, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and research. Nigeria is expected to share aspects of its 3MTT programme, a government initiative aimed at developing technology skills among Nigerians, while the countries will explore links between their startup ecosystems.

The discussions also cover Burkina Faso’s Innovation Campus, local-language technologies, and shared computing infrastructure for emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Tijani said the cooperation would go beyond fibre as both countries seek to develop digital skills and talent and strengthen links between their technology ecosystems.

The talks form part of Nigeria’s broader engagement with neighbouring countries. Tijani said the government’s four-country programme would include further engagements with Niger and Chad, following its recent visit to Benin Republic.