Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says Nigeria is promoting indigenous content to demonstrate its commitment to taking charge of its technological destiny.
Promoting indigenous content, according to him, does not only foster economic growth but a way of asserting Nigeria’s autonomy and self-reliance in the digital realm.
Towards this end, he said the Commission will continue to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Innovators to promote Nigeria’s talented young persons and ventures though Angel Investments, R&D support, exposure to Investors and sponsorship to local and international tech events.
He spoke at the second edition of the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content EXPO (NTICE 2023) in Lagos.
The expo is the only telecom event in Nigeria that is solely focused on Indigenous Content promotion, development and adaptation.
This year’s event which is the second in its series, is themed “Harnessing Indigenous Content for Economic Growth; Networking to boost Investment.” The innovators pitching event called NTICE SELECT, are carefully designed by the Commission to build on the maiden edition of the NTICE.
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While Quality of Service and Quality of Experience in telecommunications services in Nigeria have continued to improve, he said tariffs have remained stable despite the increase in cost-of-service provision to the telecom operators, hence the need to embrace indigenous content and value creation within the telecoms value chain to ensure stability in telecoms tariff.
He said, ”NTICE is a place to nurture and support the burgeoning talent pool within Nigeria. By showcasing indigenous innovations and providing opportunities for young entrepreneurs, we are not only nurturing our local talents but also encouraging a culture of entrepreneurship and creativity that will propel Nigeria onto the global stage of technological leadership.”
The NCC boss explained that the performance of the Nigerian Telecoms Sector was instrumental to lifting Nigeria our of recession with 12.45% contribution to the GDP in Q4 2020. This figure increased to 14.13% as at Q1 2023.
He recalled that the Commission in 2021 and 2022, generated revenue in excess of USD$820m from the auction and grant of 3.5GHz Spectrum band licences to three operators to boost the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) services in Nigeria.
This, he said, placed Nigeria on the global 5G map ahead of many countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
“The Sector is also home to two (2) of the most valuable listed companies in Nigeria with a collective market capitalisation in excess of N10.45 trillion. The Commission has also incentivised the manufacturing of Corrugated Optical Duct (COD) that will be used to protect our fibre infrastructure from the incessant cuts experienced by our service providers.
“Another key achievement of our policies is the ban on importation of whole- body SIM cards which was announced at the maiden NTICE event last year.
“This ban has not only eased the burden on our demand for foreign exchange but has also created business in excess of N55bn for the local SIM card manufacturers in Nigeria which in turn has created direct and indirect jobs.”
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