The Federal Government is set to explore funding from Nigerians living in the Diaspora in its current efforts to improve the level of broadband capacity in the country.
The government had set 30 percent broadband target in the National Broadband Plan to be met before the end of the year.
The Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shitttu, said at a media briefing in Abuja yesterday that one of the ways being explored to attract investments for the purposes of achieving the target and possibly surpass it remained the Nigerian Diaspora Direct Investment Summit scheduled to hold in London in April.
Shittu pointed out that many Nigerians living abroad had both the technical expertise and the financial resources to add value to the country’s broadband and telecommunications architecture.
According to him, due to the poor electricity supply in the country, newer technologies are needed for broadband connectivity in the rural communities where the customer base might not justify investment in multi-layer power generation by existing telecommunications operators.
The minister explained that the Summit was being packaged to facilitate new investment commitments in the country by Nigerians living in the Diaspora.
He projected that such funds would help not only in increasing broadband connectivity but also generate employment and boost current drives to improve the performance of the nation’s economy.
