Yomi Arowosafe: Taking Digital Inclusion to Unserved and Underserved Communities in Nigeria

Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), established under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, aims to expand access to ICTs in Nigeria’s rural and underserved areas by funding digital infrastructure such as base stations, fibre cables, and digital hubs and supporting education through connectivity projects and grants for schools. USPF Secretary YomiArowosafe explains how the new USPF Impact Alliance will reposition the Fund and scale sustainable impact. scale sustainable impact.

Digital inclusion appears to be a priority goal of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and the Digital Economy and its agencies. Why is it so important?

By design, the private sector’s investments in digital infrastructure focus primarily on areas that yield more viable commercial returns. This implies that specific communities will remain excluded from necessary development without targeted efforts to include them. At its core, the USPF seeks to close the connectivity and access gap and ensure that access and connectivity solutions are delivered to these communities, which would otherwise be excluded.

Being connected to the internet and modern communication tools can transform lives. For example, when a remote village gets reliable internet, students can access online learning materials, farmers can check market prices and weather reports, and patients can even consult doctors remotely. Digital inclusion means no community is left behind in our growing economy.  We have already seen real benefits: our projects have enabled schools in far-off areas to use computers for computer-based tests and examinations. School enrolment has been boosted, and via our e-health initiatives, disabled students can attend school more consistently. In other words, giving people access to technology creates opportunities — it helps children learn better, businesses grow, and everyone stays informed and connected.

Several years ago, the USPF took responsibility for mapping out the access and connectivity gaps in communities across Nigeria. This access gap map assists the USPF in designing projects and strategies and enables it to measure progress in closing the digital divide. It has become a reference point for other solution providers and policymakers within and even outside the telecommunications industry.

As the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and the Digital Economy (FMCIDE) ramps up its efforts to accelerate digital access and connectivity, the USPF becomes the bastion that will ensure that digital inclusion remains prioritized and that Nigerians in hard-to-reach communities are not left behind.

How do you ensure the sustainability of these projects?

We have implemented several measures, including post-delivery training, significant stakeholder engagement, and partnerships with key community leaders or associations. In some instances, we have entered into Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with state governments and Ministries of Education (MOEs) to ensure full stakeholder involvement.

 In plain terms, we do not just build a facility and walk away; we partner with the local community, school owners, and administrators. Take the OGITECH centre as an example: When we handed it over, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the school to ensure they would use and maintain it effectively. This MoU spells out that OGITECH will take care of the centre’s administration to ensure that it is optimally utilized.

We also train local people. The equipment we install includes training teachers, librarians, or community entrepreneurs on operating and fixing the systems. In the Digital Nigeria Centres (DNCs) set up mainly in secondary schools,  we work with local businesses and organizations to manage the facilities. Essentially, the people who benefit from these projects help own and sustain them.

In some centres where we note significant lapses in the community’s capacity to administer the school, we partner with NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) members and School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) to ensure that the assets are protected and utilization is optimized.

What are the objectives of the USPF Impact Alliance?

The USPF Impact Alliance is our strategy for revolutionizing digital inclusion related to education-focused projects.  We have been on a journey of internal and external stakeholder consultations to strengthen the USPF as an institution and to put impact at the centre of what we do. This means that we have extended our objective from delivering digital infrastructure and connectivity solutions to ensuring that the impact and value ofthe infrastructure on the schools, teachers, and communities that benefit are adequately monitored and evaluated.

Also, we aim to ensure that our design decisions continue to be evidence-based and influenced by the data we receive from our monitoring and evaluation efforts.

The Impact Alliance establishes a model coalition with a network of competent stakeholders who can collaborate closely on solutions that drive inclusive education and connectivity and guarantee that mutually developed impact goals are achieved. We start the conversation with a co-creation session, after which the Impact Alliance will be launched. We will pilot some of the solutions co-created and then begin to build on from there. We are excited because we are sure that the success of our initiative will drive innovation for other universal service funds across Africa and the world.

As I’ve said publicly, the Impact Alliance will “lead innovation for universal service and access funds, accelerate digital inclusion in Nigeria, and guarantee the sustainability” of our investments. We expect that the coalition with strategic partners in the private sector will multiply our impact record and guarantee the sustainability of our investments. Our focus here is impact, so we will measure the direct and indirect dividends on beneficiaries.

How do you envision Nigeria’s digital future, particularly in reaching under-served communities?

Digital inclusion is a national priority, and the economic opportunity embedded in transforming access and connectivity is boundless. As the Federal Government advances its digital expansion agenda, the USPF is working to ensure that the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach Nigerians are given equal leverage to partake in this transformation.

Whether you live in Lagos or a remote community, we remain committed to ensuring that every Nigerian can benefit from technology. We will keep deploying infrastructure — from internet towers to computer labs — and we will keep working with local communities so they get full use of it. When one more school becomes a digital learning hub or a village gains internet access, our country moves forward. The digital world is full of opportunities, and USPF seeks to ensure that these opportunities are also available in unserved and underserved communities across Nigeria.