Business
By Anthony Isibor
HIGH financing costs, short loan tenors and unreliable power remain major obstacles to investment in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, stakeholders at the Nigeria Digital Connectivity Investment Forum 2026 have said.
The forum, organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Swedfund and Ookla, brought together investors, financiers, regulators, operators and infrastructure companies in Abuja on September 29 and 30.
Participants said digital infrastructure assets typically have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years and therefore require long-term financing rather than the five-year bank tenors commonly available.
The communiqué noted that infrastructure financing in Nigeria had increased from less than ₦70 billion in 2004 to ₦19.4 trillion in 2025.
However, participants said access to capital depended on governance, management capacity and policy predictability, adding that the availability of long-term finance did not automatically make a project bankable.
Giving an investor perspective at the forum, the Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill Denham, Bolaji Balogun, emphasised the need for investable projects, appropriate financing structures and greater capital-market participation to attract long-term private and institutional capital.
The forum also identified power as a major constraint on digital infrastructure deployment.
It said the cost of power was particularly significant for tower companies, while expensive inland connectivity was limiting data-centre and internet service investment to a few metropolitan areas.
Participants recommended that energy and connectivity investments should be planned together, with tower clusters considered potential anchor off-takers for distributed power generation.
The forum called for a financing framework for telecommunications power within 18 to 24 months, including standardised energy provision through regulation and the inclusion of telecommunications power infrastructure within critical national information infrastructure protection.
Participants also urged investors and development finance institutions to match long-life digital infrastructure assets with long-tenor naira capital.
They recommended blended financing and credit enhancement for projects that are not yet commercially ready, while infrastructure funding should be tied to independently verified network performance.
The communiqué also called for the Federal Government to improve the availability and reliability of power for digital infrastructure and support financing structures capable of reducing the cost of capital.
It said these measures, alongside policy consistency and reforms to Right of Way and permitting, were necessary to create conditions for increased investment in the sector.
A.I
Oct. 6, 2026
Tags: Bolaji Balogun Chapel Hill Denham NCC Ookla Swedfund