Nigeria's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector grew by 10.98% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in the previous year, outpacing the overall economy's 3.89% growth, according to PwC's Strategy& H2 2026 Nigeria Economic Outlook.

The sector's expansion exceeded several other major parts of the economy, including finance and insurance, which grew by 8.54%, construction at 6.38%, and agriculture at 3.15%. By contrast, the electricity sector declined by 15.30%, underscoring persistent infrastructure challenges even as Nigeria's digital economy continues to expand.

PwC said the growth was driven mainly by increased access to mobile data and a higher number of broadband connections. As more Nigerians come online, economic activity tied to digital payments, online services, e-commerce, streaming and cloud computing also expands. The significance of that shift is magnified by Nigeria's scale: the country of more than 200 million people is Africa's most populous nation and one of the continent's largest economies, and it is already home to some of Africa's best-known fintech companies, including Flutterwave and Paystack.

The firm forecasts that Nigeria's full-year GDP growth will reach 4.2% in 2026, with ICT, services and fintech expected to play key roles. However, the report also noted that the gains remain concentrated in a limited number of sectors, meaning the benefits are not being felt evenly across the country.

The report said the ICT sector's growth is not only about the number of people online, but also about the physical infrastructure supporting digital services. As of May 2026, broadband penetration in Nigeria rose to 56.11% from 55.67% in April, with total subscriptions reaching 121.64 million. That still leaves penetration below the 70% target the government set for 2025 in its National Broadband Plan, underscoring how much of the population remains offline.

A major infrastructure initiative is Project BRIDGE, which aims to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables across Nigeria. The $800 million project is backed by the government and the European Union and is intended to make internet access cheaper and more reliable in areas with limited connectivity. The project is expected to support schools, businesses and individuals in underserved communities where poor internet access has limited the use of online services.

In Lagos, Airtel is building a large data centre to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). Many Nigerian companies currently rely on data centres outside the country, which can affect performance and increase costs. Local data centres are expected to improve speed and potentially lower expenses. Large-scale data centre capacity in Africa is heavily concentrated in South Africa, so new facilities of this kind in Nigeria would expand what is still a comparatively small domestic pool.

The push for domestic data infrastructure may also receive further support from new Central Bank of Nigeria regulations requiring payment data to be stored locally from January 2027. PwC said this should increase demand for local data infrastructure and encourage more investment in Nigerian data centres. The pace of fibre deployment under Project BRIDGE, the commissioning of Airtel's Lagos facility and the steps banks and payment providers take ahead of the January 2027 deadline are among the concrete markers that will show how the expansion is progressing.

Overall, PwC said Nigeria's digital economy is growing in both measurable activity and the infrastructure needed to sustain it. The report added that the challenge is to ensure the growth reaches more people, industries and regions across the country.