The Nigerian Communications Commission reported on Wednesday that as of 2021, the country’s telecoms sector has received 75.6 billion dollars in both local and foreign investment.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that during an interactive session with stakeholders in the communications media ecosystem in Lagos, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, made the announcement.
He claimed that since he assumed the position of head telecom regulator in August 2015, this was one of the major developments that had shaped the course of growth in the telecoms sector.
The investment profile in the industry, according to Danbatta, was 68 billion dollars in 2018, 70.5 billion dollars in 2019, and 72 billion dollars in 2020.
Danbatta also claimed that the amount increased to 75.6 billion dollars by the end of 2021, up from the original investment of 70 billion dollars made in the previous years. He noted that this latest figure represented the current official investment profile computed in the industry.
“In Nigeria, investment in the telecommunications industry is calculated using information from the Central Bank of Nigeria and financial information collected by the Commission from service providers.
“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, which form part of the total investment in the industry,” he said.
In a similar vein, Danbatta claimed that Nigeria’s telecom industry has continued to make a significant contribution to the country’s economy by making a strong sectoral contribution to the GDP each quarter.
This, he pointed out, was an increase from almost 8.5% in the third quarter of 2015, adding N10.126 trillion to the country’s GDP in 2022 alone.
Danbatta cited data from the National Bureau of Statistics to claim that the telecoms sector contributed N10.126 trillion to GDP in 2022 as an aggregate quarterly contribution.
“The telecom sector’s GDP contribution to the nation’s economy reached an all-time high in the second quarter, standing at 15% and valued at N2.593 trillion, up from the first quarter’s 12.94%, or N2.246 trillion.
“The sector contributed 12.85% to GDP in the third quarter, and it increased to 13.55% in the fourth, for a total of N2.436 trillion and N2.851 trillion, respectively.
“The growth trajectory continued this year as the Nigerian telecoms and information services sector delivered a handsome N2. 508 trillion in terms of financial value contribution to the nation’s GDP, representing 14.13 percent in the first quarter of 2023,” he stated.
According to data from NBS, Danbatta said, the telecom sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP has increased dramatically since he took office as the executive vice chairman of the NCC in August 2015.
He noted that from 8.50% in 2015 to 9.13% in 2016 and 8.66% in 2017, it increased. In the final quarter of 2018, telecoms contributed 9.85% to the national GDP, and in the final quarter of 2019, it added 10.60%.
“It increased GDP by 14.30% in the second quarter of 2010 and 14.42% in the second quarter of 2021. The sector’s biggest quarterly GDP contribution to the economy was 15% in the second quarter of 2022.
