The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, has urged international telecom companies and potential investors to invest in Nigeria’s telecommunication sector.
According to the EVC, Nigeria’s population made its telecom sector an attractive investment proposition. He stated that there was enough space for investment in infrastructure provisioning for broadband.
A statement said Danbatta, said this at the recently ended inaugural edition of the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition 2023, which held in Marrakesh, Morocco. He noted that Nigeria had stable political and economic conditions for investment.
Danbatta, who was represented at the conference by the Team Lead, Nigeria Office for Developing the Indigenous Telecom Sector, Babagana Digima, said the commission had the mandate to facilitate the development of the telecom industry in the country, and one of the ways to this was to attract foreign investors into the space.
He said, “Our national plan is to achieve 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025. We still have less than 50 per cent penetration. This means there is huge investment potential for investors. Nigeria’s telecom sector needs more investment in the area of infrastructure deployment.”
The EVC said there was still space for growth in the telecom industry which had over 220 million active mobile voice subscriptions, over 150 million Internet subscriptions, and a broadband penetration of 48 per cent.
He stated that the telecom sector had become a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, quarter-on-quarter, driving the growth of the digital e
“The importance of this event for us as a commission is to showcase the NCC as a Nigerian brand, a foremost telecom regulator in Africa and beyond and to bring about the much-needed investment that will enhance development of the Nigerian telecom industry,” Danbatta said.
