Telecoms investment in Nigeria hits $75.6bn, says NCC

Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has attracted  both local and foreign direct investments (FDIs) to the tune of $75.6 billion as of 2021, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman,NCC, made the disclosure at an interactive session with stakeholders in the communications media ecosystem, in Lagos recently where he provided his scorecards and landmark developments that have shaped the trajectory of growth in the telecoms sector since he became the chief telecom regulator in August 2015.

Danbatta noted that the 2021 figure was a significant improvement compared to the investment profile in 2018, which stood at $68 billion. He also disclosed that the investment profile grew to $70.5 billion in 2019 and $72 billion in 2020.

“At the end of 2021, the figure rose to $75,560,563,417.79 ($75.6 billion). The latest figure is the current official investment profile computed in the industry up from the initial $70 billion investment in the last few years,” he said.

The NCC executive vice chairman disclosed that the commission computes investment in the telecommunications sector in Nigeria from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the financial data obtained from service providers in the sector.

He explained further that while the CBN collects and calculates an element of the telecoms sector to include FDI, portfolio and others, the commission collects investment figures from telecom licensees described as domestic investment arising from capital expenditure (CAPEX) which form part of the total investment in the industry.

Danbatta also pointed out that through the effective regulatory environment put in place by the Commission, the telecom sector has recorded tremendous growth from an initial investment profile of $500 million as at 2001, when the sector was fully liberalised.

Similarly, he said the telecom sector has continued to be a major contributor to the Nigeria’s economy through an impressive the sectoral contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) quarterly, up from about 8.5 per cent in third quarter of 2015, contributing N10.126 trillion to the nation’s GDP in 2022 alone.

Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Danbatta said the telecoms sector contributed N10.126 trillion as an aggregate quarterly contribution to GDP in 2022.

Overall, Danbatta said the sector has become a major enabler of economic development in Nigeria, as it continues to positively impact all the facets of the Nigerian economy.

 “As the regulatory authority for the telecom sector in Nigeria, we are happy that the sector has recorded phenomenal growth statistics in the past two decades of the liberalization of the telecoms sector. However, we will not rest on our oars. We will continue to push upward to greater heights by encouraging expansion of frontiers to put Nigeria’s imprint on the global map of the digital economy,” he said.

In addition to the NCC’s contribution to the rise in investment and GDP growth, Danbatta assured of the commission’s commitment to always give concrete expression to the federal government Executive Order 001 focused on ease of doing business and other digital economy-oriented policies, by embarking on various regulatory initiatives that support a friendly investment climate for investors in Nigeria and enhance value for money for telecom consumers.