Nigeria’s telecommunications sector contributed over $70
billion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last one year, the
country’s telecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has
said.
Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman
of the NCC, made this known in South Africa during his speech at the 2018 ITU
Telecom World Conference which is ending today.
According to him, the sector has consistently contributed an
average of $5 billion to the GDP in half-year 2018, thereby marking a
considerable increase since 2017 when it contributed $70 billion.
In all, the contributions by Nigeria’s telecommunications sector
to the GDP have increased by 10.5%, up from 9.1% in 2016.
But more needs to be done
Professor Danbattta went ahead to admit that even though
Nigeria’s telecoms sector is performing well, more needs to be done to take
advantage of the opportunities that abound in the sector.
According to him, the NCC is already working to this effect
by putting measures in place to incentivise Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos)
to speedily deploy “infrastructure that will deepen broadband penetration” and
encourage greater investment in the sector.
In his own words:
“This is part of the roadmap to take Nigeria to the next
level under the Open Access Model template. So far, six Infraco licences have
been issued to cover Lagos, North East, North West, South South, South West and
South East zones of the Country. Arrangements are underway to re-license the
North Central zone.”
Over the past decade, the telecoms sector has grown to
become a major component of the Nigerian economy. It has made life easier for
most Nigerians, created new frontiers in the economy, and ensured that hundreds
of thousands of Nigerians are directly and indirectly employed.
Asides the value and revenue generated by the telecom
sector, it has also been fraught with many controversies thereby requiring
intensive regulatory oversight. First, there was the debt crisis that rocked
Etisalat Nigeria (now 9mobile), and the MTN many regulatory infractions,
including violation of SIM registration requirement and illegal repatriation of
funds to South Africa.
