Nigeria, Global Partners Move To Bridge Rural Connectivity Gap

Nigeria and global technology partners have intensified efforts to close the country’s digital divide, with stakeholders pushing for stronger community-led connectivity initiatives to take internet access to underserved and completely unconnected rural communities.

The renewed push was highlighted at a stakeholders’ engagement organised by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) and its partners in Abuja yesterday, where practitioners, regulators, development partners and community network operators met to exchange knowledge and build capacity for deploying and sustaining local connectivity infrastructure.

At the event, the global learning and mentorship lead, Locnet Initiative, Carlos Baca Feldman, said the boot camp was designed to bring together practitioners working on different connectivity projects across Nigeria and create a community of practice around community-centred connectivity.

Baca said participants drawn from different parts of the country were being trained in network technology, solar energy, legal and regulatory frameworks, financial sustainability and community engagement.

He said the programme was being implemented in collaboration with CITAD and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), with support from international organisations and development partners.

According to him, the initiative was also designed to create a learning pathway that would enable communities to establish and sustain connectivity projects beyond the initial deployment of infrastructure.

“We will have some experts in different areas that are important for community connectivity initiatives, including the technical aspect of the network,” he said.

Baca added that participants would also receive training on legal frameworks, financial sustainability, gender considerations and community engagement.

He said the initiative had involved collaboration with the Nigerian government, noting that work on national strategies had been ongoing since 2020.

Also speaking, the Coordinator of the Community Network Project at CITAD, Haruna Adamu, said the initiatives marked an expansion of the organisation’s community network programme into a broader Community-Centred Connectivity Initiative.

Adamu said the programme was designed to bring together people from underserved communities in Nigeria and other parts of the world to share practical experiences on how to establish, deploy and manage their own connectivity systems.

He described underserved communities as areas facing serious connectivity challenges, including communities that remained completely unconnected.

He said the capacity-building programme would equip participants with the knowledge to identify resources for deploying connectivity facilities, manage the infrastructure and understand the regulatory environment governing telecommunications services.

Adamu urged policymakers and telecommunications stakeholders to recognise community networks as complementary to existing telecommunications services rather than as competitors.

He stressed that sustained engagement with policymakers was necessary to tackle the connectivity gap that had persisted in many rural communities.

“Sometimes if you are going to a village, you have to drop one network, and maybe use others. Sometimes you can’t even connect with someone once you come out of that community,” he said.

According to him, stronger collaboration among community members, service providers, regulators, development partners and the media would be critical to expanding digital access to underserved areas.

He said the next phase of the programme would involve collecting feedback from participants to assess what they had learned and what they could take back to their respective communities.

Adamu said communities in different parts of Nigeria and other countries could benefit from the knowledge and experience generated through the initiative.

Meanwhile, a Kenyan participant, Risper Arose Nyambok, said the boot camp was focused on using connectivity to bridge the widening gap between rural and urban communities.

She said internet access could empower communities to document their experiences, develop innovations and create opportunities capable of improving the lives of ordinary people.

Nyambok said participants were expected to return to their communities and replicate the knowledge acquired during the engagement.

According to her, community-centred connectivity rests on three major areas: building the infrastructure, ensuring its sustainability and promoting meaningful usage.

She said sustainability required communities to consider how networks would continue operating after infrastructure deployment, including how users would pay for services and how social impact would be measured.

Nyambok also highlighted challenges associated with internet usage, including online harassment, stressing the need to equip communities with the knowledge and tools to protect themselves while benefiting from digital connectivity.

She said several community networks were represented at the boot camp, while others were emerging with support from organisations working to strengthen the ecosystem.

Participants also stressed the need for continued engagement with the NCC to create an enabling regulatory environment for community networks.

Nyambok said although the five-day engagement might not immediately produce concrete results, it would provide an important foundation for practitioners to build relationships, exchange experiences and work towards collective solutions.

She said the ultimate objective was to build a strong ecosystem of community-centred connectivity initiatives capable of expanding digital access to communities that had historically been left behind.