World Bank Launches $137m Initiative to Expand Broadband and Digital Jobs in West Africa

The World Bank Group (WBG)  Board of Directors today approved a transformative regional initiative that will directly boost job creation in Benin, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. This second operation under the Western Africa Regional Digital Integration Program (WARDIP), totaling $137 million, aims to strengthen the foundations for a dynamic digital economy through three core pillars: (i) expanding and upgrading the digital infrastructure needed for competitiveness; (ii) fostering a more business‑friendly environment; and (iii) enabling businesses to scale and operate across regional markets.

WARDIP2 will increase broadband access, financing, and usage in participating countries and will enable an environment for cross-border digital services in Western Africa. Approximately 5.2 million people will be connected to new or enhanced broadband internet across the three countries, and 5.4 million new users will access digitally enabled services.

“This new initiative positions West Africa to accelerate economic transformation by creating jobs, strengthening resilience, and enabling a more integrated regional digital market. It addresses one of the region’s most persistent challenges: high-cost and unreliable connectivity that limit competitiveness and people’s access to digital opportunities.”

– Michel Rogy, Digital and AI Regional Practice Director, World Bank

Through major investments in digital infrastructure, the project will expand resilient broadband networks, increase international connectivity, and strengthen data‑center capacity, laying the groundwork for new digital jobs and improved public and private-sector service delivery. At the same time, it will invest in people by supporting digital skills training for 9,000 individuals, including women and youth, and expanding opportunities in AI, cybersecurity, and entrepreneurship.

“By harmonizing regulations, modernizing digital governance, and improving competition across regional markets, WARDIP2 creates a more predictable and investment-friendly environment. Its support to the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), regulatory reforms in participating countries, and measures that lower deployment costs while expanding access to affordable, high‑quality connectivity are critical to deepening regional integration, unlocking private capital, and creating jobs.”

– Marina Wes, Acting Regional Integration Director for Africa, World Bank 

To help businesses scale, WARDIP2 will strengthen digital entrepreneurship ecosystems, expand digital financial services, and support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups with seed financing, market access, and cross‑border digital trade opportunities. These investments will not only boost firm growth and competitiveness but also catalyze new digital jobs across participating countries. More than 140 digital startups, including women-led enterprises, are expected to benefit.

WARDIP was launched in November 2023 as a game-changing program to expand internet access and to promote a single digital market in West Africa. It’s first operation (WARDIP1), implemented in partnership with the African Union, Smart Africa, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is supporting The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and Mauritania to strengthen institutional capacities and extend access to services, benefitting 1.3 million people, half of whom are women, and unlocking new economic and employment opportunities. WARDIP2 builds on this foundation, expanding the program to a total of seven countries and to the WAEMU.