Despite
what looks like economic downturn, investments in the fast growing
telecommunications sector have been put at $68b as at July, 2016.
Of
this figure, $35b comes from Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs)
The
immediate past Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union
(ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Toure as keynote speaker at the Nigerian Telecoms
Investment Forum at the just concluded ITU Telecom World 2016, Bangkok,
Thailand said these figures recorded so far in Nigeria point to the fact that
“the country is certainly a preferred destination for telecommunications
investors in Africa”.
Toure
told the audience including Communications Minister, Barr. Adebayo Shittu,
Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC)
of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar G. Danbatta, members
of the Diplomatic Corps, Chief Executives of agencies under the Ministry of
Communications and major telecommunications companies from Nigeria, Thailand,
Senators and Members of the National Assembly among others that Nigeria is the
place to invest because the population is large, there is political stability
and a very robust telecommunications regulatory regime.
He
explained that within 15 years when Nigeria opened its telecoms sector to the
global community, investments have grown in leaps and from a paltry 400,000
connected lines in 2001, the country now has over 150m connected lines and a
teledensity of 107 percent.
“The
next growth for voice communication is in Quality of Service”
“The
new oil in Nigeria is ICT and data transmission is the way to go”.
He
was particularly excited that while he served as Secretary General of ITU,
Nigeria occupied the number one position as the fastest growing telecoms sector
for five consecutive years.
Toure
told current and potential investors that the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC) has done a very good job with the way it has managed
regulatory activities transparently and by the fact that law makers from
Nigeria were also part of the audience he spoke to at the venue, underscored
the importance Nigeria attaches to this sector.
He
said he is more Nigerian than his native Mali because Nigeria has always led
the way, adding “Nigeria should share its experience with other African countries”.
While
assuring existing and potential investors in Nigeria of Government support and
protection at all times, Shittu, who spoke on behalf of President Muhammadu
Buhari said since Nigeria was now navigating from resource based to knowledge
based economy, “we want to encourage you (the investors) to renew your
confidence in our country”.
“Feel
free to come to Nigeria and if visa is an issue let us know. Our doors are open
and the ease of doing business in Nigeria is being improved upon”
Governor
El-Rufai, who served as panelist at the forum alongside Prof. Danbatta, EVC of
NCC, Ms. Funke Opeke of MainOne Cable, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko of Etisalat said
technology as an enabler has helped Kaduna State to reduce land fraud and tax
payments are now done online thus reducing incidents of leakages.
El-Rufai,
a former Minister of Federal Capital Territory told the audience that Kaduna
will soon launch Smart Kaduna initiative and has contacted a major Smart phone
manufacturer to introduce pocket-friendly smart phones to Kaduna to boost the
smart Kaduna Initiative.
NCC
boss, Danbatta told the audience that the regulator has begun digital
transformation through the National Broadband Plan (NBP 2013 – 2018).
The
NCC boss explained that since broadband is the catalyst for social and economic
transformation, “we have come to let the global community know that investments
are welcome in this area”.
He
said, the target is 30 percent by 2018 according to the NBP 2013 – 2018.
Although
Nigeria has hit 21 percent so far, investments will be needed for 3G, 4G and to
take services to underserved and unserved regions of Nigeria, “and we need to
deploy infrastructure to those areas that have no services, we understand that and
the strategy to address them hence we came out with the 8-point agenda to address this”.
Danbatta
told the audience that Nigeria has a very flexible regulatory environment and
“we are fare, firm and forthright in our activities”.
CEO
of MainOne Cable Company, Ms. Funke Opeke said MainOne Cable has keyed into the
National Broadband Plan and hence investments in the Infrastructure Company
(Infraco) licence for Lagos to take broadband services to Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs), Corporate organisations through metropolitan fibre optic
links.
“we
are building over 1,000km of fibre optic in Lagos and this is part of the
building block to encourage broadband penetration”.
Dikko
whose company, Etisalat, has over 20million subscriber base said that Etisalat
is encouraged to invest in Nigeria because “laws are very clear, policy is good
because the NCC hears us out all the time”.
In
his contribution, Vice President, New Consumers at MasterCard, Mr. Anand Menon
praised Nigeria’s ICT sector for creating an enabling environment for business
to grow.
“We
at MasterCard believe in Nigeria” Menon added.
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