Substantial investment is needed to maintain Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and the growth of the digital economy, the Nigerian Communications Commission has disclosed.
According to it, the Information Communications Technology sector is one of the fastest growing industries — directly creating millions of jobs — in the country and is also an important enabler of innovation and development because it provides the backbone infrastructure for transactional business and taxation for the Government.
This, however, cannot be sustained without maintaining and improving the country’s digital infrastructure.
The Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, revealed this during the 18th Abuja International Trade Fair Organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently.
Earlier in the year, the NCC disclosed in its ‘State of the Industry’ report, that Foreign Direct Investments into the telecoms sector fell by 46.89 per cent to $399.91m in 2022 from $753.05m in 2021.
In a statement, Danbatta said, “Sustainable financing in telecommunication involves sourcing the necessary capital to build and maintain robust telecommunications networks. As regulators, we understand that this financing should be stable, accessible, and conducive for industry growth. Taxation, while essential for funding of Government initiatives must strike a delicate balance between revenue generation and industry growth.”
He highlighted that the NCC’s role as regulator, is to advocate for fair taxation practices that do not stifle innovation or place undue burden on consumers.
He continued, “We acknowledge the intricacies of tax policies but emphasise the importance of creating an environment where telecommunications companies can thrive. To address these challenges the commission continuously engages both the Federal and State Government on the need to harmonise taxation in the telecommunications sector.”
Danbatta argued that the commission’s regulatory efforts in deepening access to digital services will benefit Nigeria and make it competitive and comparable with other economies in the areas of job creation, contribution to Gross Domestic Product growth, emergence of new services and industries, workforce transformation, and business innovation.
He further declared that the steady growth of the telecoms sector over the years has led to an increase in the automation of processes and digital transformation in service delivery in the country. He noted that the commission is working to ensure that more businesses embrace digital platforms for delivering the delivery of their services.
5G, he stated, will bring substantial network improvement, including higher connection speed, mobility, and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities to communications services in the country.
Meanwhile, Danbatta, also noted that the country is well-positioned to attract a fair share of investments in the data centre space.
Speaking recently in Lagos through the Head, Traffic Administration NCC, Dr Sunday Atu, he said, “It therefore goes to show that these centres, and their potential to attract foreign investment remain massive.
“The global data centre market is worth billions of dollars, and Nigeria is well-positioned to attract a fair share of this investment. By providing a reliable and secure environment for the services they offer within a well nurtured policy and regulatory framework, Nigeria represents an attractive destination for more investment in data centre services and operations. The implication of such investments on jobs in the construction, operation, and maintenance of these data centres can only be imagined.”