NCC, NESG make plans to boost telecoms impact on economy

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) are partnering to improve the contribution of the telecoms sector to Nigeria’s economy.

This was the crux of deliberations during a recent courtesy visit by a delegation of the National Assembly Business Environment Round Table (NASSBER), a policy unit at NESG led by Nnanna Ude and a member of the technical committee of NASSBER, Yemi Keri.

They deliberated on the need for stakeholder collaboration and engagement between the commission and other stakeholders in order to conduct an impact assessment and gap analysis of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.

The two entities also considered synergy in the area of Research and Development (R & D).

The NESG also expressed its desire to have the commission feature prominently in the forthcoming Nigeria Economic Summit (NES), an annual summit organised by the NESG, scheduled to hold in October this year.

While receiving the delegation on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, stated that the meeting was a welcome development, as it aligned with the telecom regulator’s strategic partnership and collaboration objectives.

Adinde described the NCA 2003 as a robust regulatory instrument, which has given the NCC the mandate to regulate the telecom sector effectively, as seen in the contribution to the overall economic development of the country.

He stated further that, by virtue of Section 70 of the NCA 2003, the Commission has developed various regulations and issued guidelines that have helped in addressing critical issues pertaining to its regulatory activities.

The Director, Licensing and Authorisation, Muhammed Babajika, spoke on the licensing regime of the Commission and its impact on innovation in the economy.

The Director, Technical Standards & Network Integrity, Bako Wakil, listed NCC’s regulatory efforts and collaborations with various stakeholders, such as the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) towards addressing challenges to quality of service (QoS) in the telecoms industry.

Speaking earlier on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of NESG, Laoye Jaiyeola; Ude acknowledged the critical role NCC is playing in the provision of essential digital support for the Nigerian economy.

He noted that, in 20 years of telecoms liberalisation, the NCC has been contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The NCC is key to the digital transformation agenda of the government and we can see the footprints of the readiness of the country on that journey, in terms of the level of broadband penetration, internet subscription, teledensity and other critical indicators,” he said.

Meanwhile, Adinde expressed excitement at the prospects of partnering with NESG and NASSBER, noting that such partnership will further enhance telecoms contribution to Nigeria’s socio-economic growth.

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