The Federal Government is considering a model that would give rural communities a direct stake in the telecom infrastructure serving them, allowing them to own and maintain the facilities through cooperatives while sharing the revenue they generate.
The proposal comes with a six-month target to secure funding for solar-powered telecom towers and rural networks in communities with little or no connectivity.
The plan was one of the resolutions reached at the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Nigeria Digital Connectivity Investment Forum, organized with Swedfund and Ookla, where government agencies, investors, infrastructure companies and development partners discussed how to finance the expansion of digital infrastructure across Nigeria.
Rather than relying on one source of funding, the proposed model brings together money for telecom infrastructure, electricity and support from state governments.
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The tower would belong to more than a telecom operator
Under the proposed arrangement, rural communities would form cooperatives that would own and maintain the telecom facilities, share revenue generated by the infrastructure and play a role in keeping the sites running.
That would give communities a more direct role in infrastructure built to serve them, instead of leaving ownership and management entirely with telecom operators or government-backed projects.
The idea also builds on an approach already recognized by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), which encourages community ownership of universal-service projects as a way to support entrepreneurship and make projects more sustainable.
But ownership is only one part of the plan.
The government also needs to answer a more basic question: who pays for telecom infrastructure in places where commercial investment may not make enough financial sense?
The proposed answer is a funding structure involving the USPF, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and state governments.
The USPF would handle the telecommunications side of the project. This includes the towers, base stations, small cells and other equipment needed to bring network services to communities that currently have little or no coverage.
The REA would handle the electricity side, providing solar mini-grids, batteries and solar panels to power the telecom sites.
State governments would support the projects by providing land, security and Right of Way for the infrastructure.
The forum also recommended giving the Universal Service Fund a stronger role in financing projects in underserved areas, with government and development partners providing additional funding through blended financing.
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Solar power will keep the towers running
A telecom tower needs electricity to work, but many rural communities do not have reliable access to the national grid.
That is why solar power, batteries and mini-grids are part of the proposed plan. The idea is to give the towers their own reliable source of electricity instead of depending entirely on grid power.
The NCC and REA have also agreed to coordinate their projects and mapping for rural connectivity initiatives. This could help align telecom infrastructure with rural electricity projects so that the two can be developed together.
The government is also working on a separate programme targeting about 3,700 communications sites across underserved communities. Deployment is expected to begin in October, with an initial target of 200 sites by December 2026.
The Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy describes the Nigeria Universal Communication Access Project (NUCAP) as a national programme designed to provide rural broadband, public Wi-Fi, digital learning solutions and related energy infrastructure across underserved and unserved communities.
The financing challenge, however, goes beyond finding money to build the first set of towers.
Digital infrastructure can remain useful for 20 to 30 years, but stakeholders at the connectivity forum said conventional bank loans may last only about five years. That mismatch can make it difficult to finance large connectivity projects over the long term.
Nigeria’s infrastructure financing has grown from less than ₦70 billion in 2004 to ₦19.4 trillion in 2025, but stakeholders said digital infrastructure needs financing arrangements that better match the long life of the assets.
This is why the proposed model involves government funding alongside private investment, development finance and other forms of blended financing.
The forum also called for stronger investment frameworks for telecom power, renewable energy and other financing structures that can support long-term connectivity projects.