Olufemi Adeyemi 


The Nigerian Communications Commission yesterday said active mobile subscriptions have moved from a paltry 400,000 in 2001 to 209 million as at August this year.

Executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta has said that NCC will continue to Fast-track the adoption and promotion of emerging technologies in Nigeria.

According to Danbatta, this aims to strengthen businesses and other sectors for the benefit of the country and its citizens.

Speaking to stakeholders at the concluded Cyberchain Abuja 2022, Danbatta said the telecom sector has been a key booster of the Nigerian economic activities, transforming the way people live and work as well as increasing efficiency in other sectors of the economy.

“The Commission is committed to driving the deployment and adoption of emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), utilisation of value of Big Data, Blockchain, Robotics and Virtual Reality, FINTECH, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Telemedicine, among others, to stimulate greater contribution of the sector to the economy,” Danbatta said.

Also, he expressed delight that the telecom sector has been an enabler of Nigeria’s economic growth and development as it contributes substantially to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“From $500 million investments in the sector as at 2001, the telecommunications industry has recorded over $70 billion investment till date, while the growth in the sector has been phenomenal, from some 400,000 functional phone lines in 2001 to over 209 million active mobile subscriptions, achieving a teledensity of 110 per cent, as at August 2022.

“The sector has provided over 500,000 formal and informal jobs for Nigerians. From an insignificant contribution to GDP in 2001, telecoms sector, as at the last quarter of 2021, contributed 12.61 per cent to GDP, while the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector as a group, has also contributed 18.44 per cent to GDP as at the second quarter of 2022,” he said.

He explained that for Nigeria to reap the full benefits of all emerging technologies in ways that fast-track growth in the national economy, NCC has prioritises the need to improve and expand broadband infrastructure and the deployment of new technology such as the Fifth Generation of Mobile Communication (5G) to facilitate the actualization of the set targets in the Federal Government’s digital economy policy.

The chairman noted that with the rapid digital transformation happening through the telecommunication sector, the country will be in a better position to create an alternate economy for diversification, innovation and creativity in e-commerce and digital entrepreneurship, while empowering a significant number of the populace to become self-reliant and self-employed.