Nearly 20 Million Nigerians Have No Network. The First Tower to Fix That Just Went Live

Imagine running a shop where customers want to pay by transfer, but you have to walk to the next village just to get one bar of signal. For roughly 20 million Nigerians, that is still everyday life.

The federal government says it has started fixing that. On Friday, Communications Minister Bosun Tijani commissioned the first tower under a plan to build 3,700 new telecom sites in places mobile networks have mostly ignored.

What happened

The first site went live in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, along the Umuahia–Ohafia road. It is the opening move of the Nigeria Universal Communication Access Project, or NUCAP, which targets rural, riverine and hard-to-reach communities across all six geopolitical zones.

These are areas where telecom operators have struggled to justify the cost of building towers because there are fewer paying customers. So the government is stepping in to build the infrastructure itself, and the sites will then be connected to mobile operators so people can actually use them.

Tijani said more launches will follow in the coming days, weeks and months.

The key numbers

3,700 towers planned nationwide

About 20 million Nigerians expected to gain coverage, which works out to roughly 5,400 people per tower on average

200 sites the government wants switched on by the end of December 2026

1,000 sites that China Industrial Bank has reportedly committed to help deliver by the end of 2026

90,000 km of fibre planned under Project BRIDGE, which will help link the new towers to the wider internet, alongside NIGCOMSAT satellite links

Who is paying for it

BusinessDay reported in August that the project's financing and contracting were complete, with China Industrial Bank backing the rollout in what was described as its first investment in Nigeria. The Trumpet reports that a special-purpose vehicle will own the towers, with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated expected to hold 90% and private investors putting in about $35 million for the remaining 10%.

The towers are also meant to run largely on solar and other green power instead of diesel generators. Some sites will offer public Wi-Fi hotspots for nearby schools, health centres and community centres.

What to do if your community still has no signal

Check whether your area is already on the plan. The ministry says communities that are left out can submit their locations, and The Trumpet points residents to fmcide.gov.ng/nucap or nucap@fmcide.gov.ng.

Give precise details: the community name, LGA, state and the nearest landmark. Vague requests are harder to map.

Talk to your local representatives. The Bende site was pushed by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who has since flagged 16 more unserved clusters in the Abia area.

What this means for Nigerians

If you live in a village with no network, this could be the difference between selling only to people who walk past and getting paid by transfer, checking crop prices before market day, or calling for help in an emergency. For small traders and POS agents in rural areas, steady signal means fewer failed transactions and less cash risk. For telcos like MTN, Airtel and Glo, it means millions of new potential subscribers in places they could not reach profitably, and for fintechs, a bigger market for mobile money and agent banking. The catch is that a tower only helps if it stays powered, stays connected and stays affordable to use.

What to watch next

Whether 200 sites are actually live by December, and which states get them first

Which mobile operators plug into the new towers and how quickly

How well the solar setup holds up, since power is the biggest reason towers go down in Nigeria

Whether the government publishes a public list of planned sites so communities can track progress

Sources: TheCable, BusinessDay, The Trumpet, Innovation Village