FG Rolls Out 11-Character Digital Postcodes for Nigerian Addresses

The Federal Government has introduced a new national digital postcode system designed to make it easier to identify buildings and locations across Nigeria.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, announced the rollout on Thursday, urging Nigerians to look up their new postcodes and begin using them.

The system, operated by the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), assigns a unique 11-character digital postcode to every addressable building in the country.

According to Tijani, the system provides a precise, GIS-enabled reference that can improve how individuals, businesses and government agencies identify and locate addresses.

The minister said the initiative could have practical benefits across several areas, including commerce, emergency response and public service delivery.

He explained that businesses could use accurate location information to reach customers outside their immediate neighbourhoods, while individuals could provide precise locations to families and emergency responders when necessary.

“Every Nigerian deserves to be found. Every business deserves the chance to reach its customers. And every community deserves to be within reach of opportunity,” he said.

Tijani linked the digital postcode system to the government’s broader digital infrastructure plans, saying reliable location data would be important to expanding economic participation.

“As we work towards (President Bola Tinubu’s) ambition for a $1 trillion economy, we must build the foundations that allow more Nigerians to participate, trade and prosper. This is one of those foundations,” Tijani said.

The minister encouraged Nigerians to identify their assigned codes through the official Digital Postcode platform and share the information with relatives, friends and businesses that may need their addresses.

The system organises location information across five levels: state, local government area, district, area and building.

Each addressable building is assigned a distinct code, allowing it to be more precisely identified within the national addressing framework.

NIPOST has previously said the digital postcode system is expected to support a range of services, including deliveries, emergency response, government services and e-commerce.

The Federal Government’s rollout of the system is therefore expected to strengthen Nigeria’s digital addressing infrastructure and improve the ability of people, businesses and public institutions to locate one another accurately.