Nigerian Telecoms sector attracts over $75bn investments – Prof Dambatta

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has announced that the investment profile in the Nigerian telecommunications sector has reached $75.6 billion as of 2021.
Speaking at an interactive session with stakeholders in the communications media ecosystem in Lagos on Wednesday, Danbatta said that the figure included foreign direct investments (FDIs) and local investments and that these investments have helped to shape the trajectory of growth in the telecoms sector since he became the chief telecom regulator in August 2015.
According to Danbatta, in 2018, investment profile in the sector stood at $68 billion, increased to $70.5 billion in 2019 and $72 billion in 2020. And at the end of 2021, the figure rose to $75.6 billion.
He explained that the latest figure is the current official investment profile computed in the industry up from the initial $70 billion investment in the last few years.
The CEO of the NCC disclosed that through effective regulatory environment put in place by the Commission, the telecom sector has recorded tremendous growth from an initial investment profile of $500 million as at 2001, when the sector was fully liberalised.
Similarly, Danbatta said the telecom sector has continued to be a major contributor to the Nigeria’s economy through an impressive the sectoral contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) quarterly, up from about 8.5 per cent in third quarter of 2015, contributing N10.126 trillion to the nation’s GDP in 2022 alone.
Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Danbatta said the telecoms sector contributed N10.126 trillion as an aggregate quarterly contribution to GDP in 2022.
Danbatta also announced that the Broadband Penetration in Nigeria has reached 48.28% with 92.2m Broadband Subscriptions and Teledensity now at 115.91%, while active voice subscriptions stands at 221.3m and active Internet subscriptions put at 159.6m.
According to him, the national target in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2013-2018 was to increase broadband penetration from around 6% to 30% by 2018.
Danbatta stated that the commission has continued to face numerous challenges of damage to telecommunications Infrastructure during road construction, vandalism and Insecurity, Quality of Service (QoS), Multiple Taxation and Regulations, Right of Way (RoW) issues and Power Supply.
But despite these challenges, Danbatta stated that the sector has become a major enabler of economic development in Nigeria, as it continues to positively impact all the facets of the Nigerian economy.
“As the regulatory authority for the telecom sector in Nigeria, we are happy that the sector has recorded phenomenal growth statistics in the past two decades of the liberalization of the telecoms sector. However, we will not rest on our oars. We will continue to push upward to greater heights by encouraging expansion of frontiers to put Nigeria’s imprint on the global map of digital economy,” he said.
In addition to the growth in investment and GDP contribution, Danbatta said, “As of May, 2023, active voice subscriptions reached 221.3 million, equivalent of 115.91 per cent teledensity, while Internet subscriptions rose to 159.6 million.
According to him, broadband subscriptions on Third Generation (3G) and Fourth Generation (4G) networks increased to 92.2 million, representing a 48.28 per cent broadband penetration in the country.
He explained that following the issuance of 3.5GHz spectrum licences for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) networks in Nigeria, marked by ultra-high speed internet, low latency and high capacity, and the subsequent commercial launch by two of the three licence holders, 5G subscriptions have grown to over 60,000 in many cities in at least 12 states of the Federation.
Danbatta assured of the Commission’s commitment to always give concrete expression to the Federal Government Executive Order 001 focused on Ease of Doing Business and other digital economy-oriented policies, by embarking on various regulatory initiatives that support a friendly investment climate for investors in Nigeria and enhance value for money for telecom consumers.
He commended the media as a strategic partner and enabler of growth in the telecom sector “through accurate, adequate and timely reporting of all regulatory activities of the Commission”.
GIK/APA