The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has singled out Nigeria’s strong small and medium enterprises (SMEs) contingent at the ongoing ITU Telecom World in Busan, South Korea as a pointer to the commitment of the country to the global cause of creating a happier future with technology.

Secretary General of ITU, His Excellency Houlin Zhao, who was special guest at the opening session of the Nigeria day and the Investment Forum at the event said Nigeria has demonstrated strong leadership among telecom emerging economies and partnership with the ITU. According to him, Nigeria has consistently partnered with the ITU and has over the years provided a model of regulatory excellence for Africa and emerging telecom economies.

He noted the high caliber of presentations by some young Nigerian innovators, stressing that the quality of their works was an attestation of the strength of Nigeria in innovation.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta, in his remark said Nigeria has made significant progress in telecom since 2001 when the digital mobile auction was conducted, growing from a $50million industry to over $70 billion in 2017.

On what Nigeria has brought to ITU Forum in Busan, he said: “We come to the ITU Telecom World every year to tell our story, share our experiences and borrow a leaf from global best practices to address our concerns, engage and collaborate with the global community to strengthen the growth and impact of the Nigerian Telecoms Industry.

“We therefore come to enlist the support of other players, governments, regulators and the global community from whom there is always a basket of ideas to take back home to Nigeria.  The implementation of these ideas will ensure a better regulatory environment, even though ours has been seen as a very robust and consultative regulatory agency right from 2001 when the Digital Mobile Licences (DML) were issued. The spirit of cooperation and consultation is very high at ITU Telecom World events.

“While it is true that different people come with different notions to ITU Telecom World, the end result is to better serve our people, deploy resources to address access gaps in underserved and unserved communities in our various jurisdictions.

“Our engagement with the global community during this event will include creating awareness of the investment opportunities in Africa’s biggest Telecom market, as well as guarantee of adequate Returns on Investments (RoIs).

“In this connection, we are here to tell the ICT community that Nigeria with a population of about 170 million is a preferred investment destination in Africa. With over 150 million active subscribers, in the voice segment, over 102 percent teledensity and a little over 92 million internet connections, Nigeria is indeed a place to invest.

“The ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for sustainable development recently said Nigeria now has about 21% broadband penetration and conscious of the reality that broadband fuels faster data transmission speed and capacity, our focus now is on how we can attract the right investments to grow this critical area of the sector through broadband coverage expansion.

“The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as a foremost regulator, has put in place measures and guidelines to licence wholesale broadband service providers consistent with the Open Access Model for broadband deployment.  Of the seven infrastructure companies (Infracos) earmarked for licensing, only two have so far been licensed for Lagos which is commercial hub of Nigeria, and Abuja including the North Central zone of the country leaving five more licences for the South West, South East, South South, North East and North West zones of the country. The process of licensing of infracos for these five remaining zones is about to be concluded.

“In our firm resolve to strengthen institutions of corporate governance for telcos, woo investors and guarantee returns on their investments, the NCC, in consultation with industry stakeholders introduced a mandatory Code of Corporate Governance as guide to managers and boards of telecommunications companies.  The code outlines minimum global best practices covering processes, procedures and general corporate behaviour for telecommunications industry players.

“When we rolled out the 8-point agenda in 2016, it was predicated on the change mantra of the new democratic government in Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. It is premised on facilitating broadband penetration, improving quality of service, optimizing usage and benefits of spectrum, promoting ICT investment and innovation, facilitating strategic partnership, promoting fair and inclusive growth and ensuring regulatory excellence and operational efficiency.  Because we recognize the importance of ICT to national development that is why growing this sector has been top on our agenda.  Hence, ladies and gentlemen, permit me to say that despite our modest achievements, Nigeria ICT sector is work in progress”.