According to Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the overall stock of investments in the country’s telecommunications sector, including both FDI and local capital, has reached $75.6 billion.
Danbatta made this disclosure yesterday in Lagos during an interactive session with stakeholders in the communications media ecosystem, where he reeled off his accomplishments and significant events that have influenced the trajectory of telecoms sector growth since he assumed the position of chief telecoms regulator in August 2015.
The overall investment investments as of the end of 2021 are included in the figure.
Danbatta estimates that the sector’s investment profile was $68 billion in 2018. By 2020, this would rise to $72 billion from $70.5 billion in 2019.
The amount increased to $75,560,563,417.79 ($75.6 billion) at the end of 2021. The most recent number represents the most recent official investment profile computed in the sector.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the financial information collected from service providers by the Commission are the two sources used to calculate investment in the telecommunications sector in Nigeria.
The Commission gathers investment data from telecom licensees that are referred to as domestic investment arising from capital expenditure (CAPEX), which constitutes a portion of the entire investment, while the CBN collects and calculates an element of the telecoms sector to include FDI, portfolio, and others.
The NCC CEO stated that the telecom sector has experienced significant development from an initial investment profile of $500 million as of 2001, when the sector was fully liberalized, thanks to an effective regulatory environment put in place by the Commission.
In a similar vein, Danbatta claimed that the telecoms industry had continued to play a significant role in the economy of Nigeria by making a remarkable sectoral contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a quarterly basis, up from about 8.5 percent in the third quarter of 2015 and expected to contribute N10.126 trillion to GDP in 2022 alone.
Danbatta said that in 2022, the telecoms sector’s aggregate quarterly contribution to GDP was N10.126 trillion, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“In the first quarter, the sector contributed 12.94 per cent equivalent to N2.246 trillion while the second quarter witnessed an all-time high GDP contribution by the telecom sector to the nation’s economy, standing at 15 per cent and valued at N2.593 trillion. The sector’s contribution to GDP in the third was 12.85 per cent and in the fourth quarter, it grew to 13.55 per cent, which is valued at N2.436 trillion and N2.851 trillion respectively.
“The growth trajectory continued this year as the telecommunications and Information Services sector in Nigeria delivered a handsome N2. 508 trillion in terms of financial value contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product, GDP, representing 14.13% in the first quarter 2023,” he said.
According to information from NBS, since Danbatta assumed the position of EVC of NCC in August 2015, the telecom industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP has increased dramatically.
It increased from 8.50% in 2015 to 9.13% in 2016 and then to 8.66% in 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2019, telecoms added 10.60% to the national GDP, up from 9.85% in the final quarter of 2018.
It increased GDP by 14.30% in the second quarter of 2010 and 14.42% in the second quarter of 2021. The sector’s GDP contribution to the economy as a whole peaked at 15% in the second quarter of 2022.
Overall, according to Danbatta, the sector has grown to be a significant enabler of economic development in Nigeria due to its favorable effects on all areas of the country’s economy.
“As the regulatory authority for the telecom sector in Nigeria, we are happy that the sector has recorded phenomenal growth statistics in the past two decades of the liberalization of the telecoms sector. However, we will not rest on our oars. We will continue to push upward to greater heights by encouraging an expansion of frontiers to put Nigeria’s imprint on the global map of the digital economy,” he said.
Along with the expansion of investment and the GDP contribution, Danbatta stated: “As of May, 2023, active voice subscriptions reached 221.3 million, equivalent to 115.91 per cent teledensity, while Internet subscriptions rose to 159.6 million.”
The CEO of NCC reported that the number of broadband subscriptions on Third Generation (3G) and Fourth Generation (4G) networks climbed to 92.2 million, or 48.28% of the population, in the nation.
