Bosun Tijani, Nigerian Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has set up a ministerial committee to provide solutions to the challenges facing telecom operators. The initiative was unveiled on Friday, March 22, in a statement issued by Kania Maliki Andeyaba, head of the ministry’s public relations and press unit.

The committee is responsible for examining the operational conditions of telecom operators and proposing fiscal measures to mitigate the impact of macroeconomic pressures on their activities. It will also look into issues related to the industry’s dependence on foreign currencies, shared services and infrastructure agreements, local content. He has one month to submit his report to the government.

The establishment of this committee comes a few days after Nigeria suffered disruptions to the Internet network due to the cutting of certain submarine cables serving it. It is part of the measures undertaken by the government to restore Internet service to populations as quickly as possible, but also to guarantee optimal quality services for end users in the long term.

However, this government vision could be slowed down by the recurring challenges complained of by telecom operators and other players in the ICT sector. These include multiple taxation, shortage of foreign exchange, devaluation of the naira, high price of diesel. For example, the sector would have invested 50.28 billion naira ($34.6 million) in diesel during the month of February 2024 alone according to estimates from the local press.

As a reminder, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recorded 218.4 million mobile subscribers and 161.5 million internet users in Nigeria at the end of January 2024. In addition, the Telecommunications industry contributed 14% to Nigeria’s real GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It is the third contributor after agricultural production (23.86%) and trade (15.5%).

“As a major contributor to our country’s GDP, the telecommunications industry is critical to the development of our nation, as it helps drive innovation and promote digital inclusion among Nigerians,” Mr. Tijani said.

Source: Agency EcoFin