The Federal Government is putting about ₦12 billion into a national research programme under Project BRIDGE, a move aimed at tightening the link between infrastructure rollout and digital policy in Nigeria.
The funding is structured around six research clusters covering areas like connectivity, digital public infrastructure, skills development, jobs, online safety, and artificial intelligence.
Each cluster is expected to be led by Nigerian universities working with international partners, bringing researchers together to produce policy-focused work that feeds directly into how the country builds and regulates its digital economy.
Project BRIDGE itself sits on a much larger ambition, the rollout of 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic backbone across the country, with the research component designed to ensure the infrastructure push is backed by evidence and policy direction.
The government is also leaning on universities as the main execution engine, with more than 200 researchers expected to be involved across the programme.
At its core, the initiative is trying to solve a familiar gap in Nigeria’s digital space, strong infrastructure plans that often outpace the research and policy systems needed to fully support them.
