By Martin Ekpeke
In a move to ensure Nigeria’s massive infrastructure investments are matched by intellectual depth, the Federal Government has officially launched the National Digital Economy Research Clusters (NDERC).
The ₦12 billion initiative, announced by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, marks a strategic shift toward evidence-based policymaking in Africa’s largest economy.
According to the Minister, the funding is a core component of Project BRIDGE, the government’s ambitious plan to deploy 90,000km of fibre optic cable across the country.
“Physical cables alone are not enough to transform Nigeria. “Nations that lead the future are not simply those that deploy infrastructure, they are the ones that cultivate ideas,” the Minister stated, noting that the fund aims to move digital policy away from short-term political cycles and toward long-term, rigorous research.
The ₦12 billion fund will establish six national research clusters to address critical gaps in Nigeria’s digital landscape. The first cluster focuses on connectivity and meaningful use to ensure that internet access leads to increased productivity. A second cluster will develop digital public infrastructure to provide the foundation for digital government services. The third cluster is dedicated to human capital by scaling digital skills and education across the country.
The fourth cluster will analyze livelihoods to understand how the digital economy can create sustainable jobs. A fifth cluster will focus on trust and safety to protect consumers from various online harms. Finally, the sixth cluster will research artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to position Nigeria at the forefront of the global AI revolution.
The programme represents a massive injection of resources into the Nigerian university system. The structure of the clusters includes 36 distinguished professors to lead the research, 200+ researchers, including PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows and international partnerships to ensure global competitiveness and knowledge exchange.
By involving vice-chancellors and academic institutions directly, the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy hopes to plant seeds that will outlast the current administration, creating a permanent culture of research-led governance.
How to Participate
The Ministry has released a Request for Expression of Interest (EOI) for academic and research institutions ready to lead these clusters.