Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, revealed at Nigeria’s Day at the Information Communication Technology, ITU, Telecom World 2017, in Bussan, South Korea, Wednesday, September 27, that investment in telecom sector in Nigeria has risen to $70 billion between 2001 and 2017. It was $50 million investments in 2001 when mobile licenses were issued for digital operation in the country.
Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, NCC Executive Vice Chairman said at the event that bulk of the investments was foreign direct investments. He said the huge investments in the sector were evidence of international communities’ confidence in Nigeria’s economy and telecom sector.
Despite the success, Danbatta said: “We still need to deepen investments to make broadband pervasive in the country”. Presently, the broadband penetration in the country was at 22 percent, when the Commission targets to achieve 30 percent by 2018 in line with the National Broadband Plan.
At the same time, Danbatta assured investors that the doors of investing in Nigeria were opened and NCC would work within assigned regulatory mandate to ensure investors’ interests are safe and secure in the country. He said NCC would continue to build a reputation of a “firm but flexible agency” that would provide incentives to operators and potential investors in order to ensure the gains recorded over the past couple of years were sustained.
