Market News
Digital address for Nigerian homes operational from October 1 – FG - DAILY TRUST
The Federal Government has said Nigeria’s new Alphanumeric Postcode System, a new digital home address, will be operational in the country from October 1, 2026.
The minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani disclosed this in a statement on X, on Tuesday.
Tijani said starting from October 1st 2026, “for the first time, every home will be assigned a unique postcode that’s simple, precise and built for a digital future”.
The postcode which will be launched by the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) replaces the old six-digit numerical codes.
The new digital address system which is a GIS-enabled upgrade will assign every building and home a unique digital address to improve logistics, security, and emergency response.
It was integrated with geospatial data for accurate mapping on services like Google Maps and Nigerians will be able to generate and verify their codes via dedicated web portals, mobile apps, and USSD codes.
Expected benefits
Experts said it would eliminate vague location descriptions (e.g., “the blue gate after the filling station”) and reduce billions of naira lost in failed e-commerce deliveries.
It will also enhance intelligence gathering, law enforcement tracking, and rapid emergency response times, according to the minister.
He said it would also align physical locations with national identification databases (like NIMC) for better government and economic planning.
Earlier in a workshop in June, Tijani had described the Nigerian Digital Postcode System as a foundational layer of Digital Public Infrastructure that would strengthen coordination, intelligence, enforcement, and service delivery across the country.
He had noted that while digital identity systems and financial infrastructure have transformed how people and businesses interact, Nigeria has long lacked a reliable and universally accepted framework for accurately identifying locations.
The Digital Postcode System, he explained, fills this critical gap by assigning every location in Nigeria a unique, machine-readable and geographically anchored identity.
Dr. Tijani emphasised that the initiative goes far beyond postal operations and will serve as a national enabler for improved emergency response, public safety, logistics, e-commerce, national planning, and government service delivery.
“The future we are building is one where every incident, every facility, every operation, and every response in Nigeria is anchored on a single, trusted location layer. When that happens, coordination becomes instantaneous, accountability becomes traceable, and response becomes precise,” he said.
The minister added that the Federal Government remains committed to ensuring that the system is operationalised and integrated across government institutions as part of efforts to build a modern, inclusive, and globally competitive digital economy.
Speaking on the new address system, the Postmaster General/CEO of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Tola Odeyemi, said it was designed to provide every location in the country with a unique and verifiable digital address, the initiative is expected to improve public service delivery, strengthen national security, enhance emergency response capabilities, and support economic activities that rely on accurate location intelligence.
Daily Trust reports that the National Digital Addressing Policy and the Digital Postcode System was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as a critical component of Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure
