NCC Woos Investors Into Nigeria’s $70bn Telecoms Industry

• NCC Woos Investors Into Nigeria’s $70bn Telecoms Industry

The Nigerian Communications Commission has described the country as the preferred investment destination for telecommunications investors in Africa, with the industry having grown from $50m to $70bn in 16 years.

The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, stated that the recognition of the importance of Information and Communications Technology to national development had prompted the government to prioritise the sector.

Speaking at the official opening of Nigeria Pavilion at the ITU Telecom World 2017 in South Korea, Danbatta noted that every national economy was dependent on the telecommunications sector and the failure of the sector would have negative effects on other sectors.

“The ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development recently said Nigeria now had about 21 per cent broadband penetration and conscious of the reality that broadband fuels faster data transmission speed and capacity, our focus now is on how we can attract the right investments to grow this critical area of the sector through broadband coverage expansion,” he said.

The NCC executive vice chairman assured investors of adequate returns on investments since the country had over 150 million active subscribers in the voice segment, over 102 per cent teledensity and over 92 million Internet connections.