For Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African (SSA)
countries to wriggle out of their current economic challenges, the need for
governments to focus more on telecommunications sector has been stressed.
This is even as it has been adequately established
that there is strong correlation between telecommunications sector and the
Gross Domestic Products (GDP) growth rate in Africa.
Speaking at the weekend in Lagos, at the 12th
Nigerian Telecom Lecture and Awards, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, said in a period
where Africa is burdened by poverty and debts, telecommunications has become
one of the key sources of improving the GDP of the African economies.
Danbatta said currently, telecommunications and ICT
contribute up to 10 per cent of Nigeria's GDP.
He disclosed that during his recent visit to the
Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, while referencing a report from
the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which put the contributions of the
telecommunications sector to the GDP at N1.4 Trillion in the first quarter of
2016, said
"this is a positive indication that more investments, more
deployments and more economic activities around the sector will continue to
impact positively in the sector"
"However, it was good reason for various
agencies of government, and governments at all levels in Africa, to show
greater understanding and support for to the quest by various regulators in
Africa to improve the telecommunications environment."
Juxtaposing the effect of broadband on GDP, Danbatta
posited that there have been global expectations of the impacts of broadband
and efforts by various countries to achieve fast deployment of broadband infrastructure
are currently on.
"We all know that Broadband is an enabler of
other economic and human activities. The World Bank and the International
Telecommunications Union, ITU, have made recommendations about broadband that
cannot be ignored by any progressive telecommunications regulator", he
said.
According to him, the Broadband Commission, while
emphasizing its importance for future economic development of every nation,
referred to the World Bank research that indicates that, "for high-income
countries, a 10-percentage-point rise in broadband penetration adds a
1.21-percentage point rise in economic growth - or an added 1.38 percentage
points for low- and middle-income countries. This is more than any other type
of communication service."
Danbatta pointed out that this was one of the
reasons why broadband is on the top of the eight-point agenda of the NCC under
his leadership.
The NCC EVC posited that he believes many African
countries are giving serious thoughts and actions towards the provision of
broadband to make it available, accessible and affordable for the citizens of
the continent, and in the process, impact positively to their national
economies.
According to him, in Nigeria, the target is already
set for 30 per cent penetration in 2018, against the current 10 per cent penetration
across the country.
He said plans are already in place, which includes
the licensing of fibre infrastructure providers in the remaining five
geopolitical zones of South West, South East, South South, North West, and
NorthEast.
"Two companies are already licensed for North
Central and Lagos, which is considered a zone on its own right as the
commercial capital of this country with huge demands for telecom services. We
have successfully sold some slots of frequencies in the 2.6GHz Spectrum Band,
and will continue to commit efforts towards efficient management of resources
to achieve the various targets expanding the frontiers of broadband and
improving the telecommunications sector", he stated.
Danbatta said Africa is still very promising for
investments, stressing that telecommunications investors have huge
opportunities to explore the African continent, which still has huge potentials
for returns on investment.
According to him, the developed parts of the world
are almost saturated with different types of telecommunications services.
"Therefore, Africa stands a chance to make desirable impact in the next
few years if we get our plans right. Therefore, this is another opportunity to
advice fellow regulators that we need to keep our eyes on the ball for the
benefit of the continent's faster development", he stated.
Original article by Adeyemi Adepetun for The Guardian
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