The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) has announced that Nigeria's Communications Ministry has formally endorsed the affordability threshold it determined would best support efforts to ensure greater access to the internet around the world.

The 80 member organisation has also vowed to support the Ministry in making sure that Nigerians benefit from limiting the price of a 1GB bundle to no more than 2% of an individual's monthly income, in a scheme known as "1 for 2".

Arch. Sunday Echono, Permanent Secretary for Nigeria's Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu endorsed the affordability target during a speech he delivered on behalf of the Minister during the A4AI-Nigeria Coalition meeting two weeks ago.

"Consequently, A4AI and the Ministry share the common goal to make the Internet universally affordable for all who want to use it. This goal is quantified in a measure of having 1 Gigabyte of bandwidth not costing more than 2% of a person's monthly income."

A4AI describes approval of the target by the Ministry as a significant step forward, as described in a statement on its website.

"In 2016, A4AI called on countries to adopt a new, more ambitious target for what counts as 'affordable' internet access — a 1GB bundle costing no more than 2% of monthly incomes, or "1 for 2". Nigeria recently became the first nation to formally endorse this target. We'd like to congratulate Nigeria for the nation's vision in taking this step, and we stand ready to help make it a reality for all of her citizens."

A4AIn emphasises that its coalition members that are drawn from the public sector, private sector and civil society — are committed to helping the Ministry translate this target into benefits for all Nigerians. Members of the organisation include Google, Cisco, Facebook, AfiCTA and NEPAD.

"What is more, ECOWAS has also formally endorsed the target and recommended it for adoption by its 16 member states, and so we hope to see similar commitments from other West African nations soon."adds A4AI in its statement.

The "1 for 2" target was set by A4AI in its 2015-16 Affordability Report which showed that broadband is unlikely to be affordable to most, or all, population groups at current pricing levels.

The target, A4AI claims, is the more suitable as demonstrated by its research than the current UN-agreed target of 500MBs for 5% or less of income which "is likely to restrict access to the relatively well-off, while also severely restricting the amount of time people can spend online."

Internet penetration in Nigeria as at June 2016 was at 52% or 28.5% of Africa's total, according to data from Internet World Stats.