Importation of telecoms hardware products into Nigeria has climbed to 86 per cent, while only 14 per cent are produced locally. This was revealed by the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission (NCC) in its State of Affairs of the Nigerian Telecoms Sector report. It was stated that 77 per cent of the software used in Nigeria were foreign, imported from other countries, while a paltry 23 per cent are obtained locally. Data on Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) also revealed a dominance of foreign products over those produced locally with 88 per cent coming from foreign countries, while only 12 per cent are being manufactured in Nigeria. With regard to the workforce, there is also higher percentage of foreigners among top management staff when compared with other staff, with Nigerians making up 31 per cent in relation to the foreigners who make up 69 per cent.
However, the ratio of Nigerian to foreigners (for senior,line, contract and iutsourced staff) in the industry is high in absolute terms (I.e. 98 per cent to two per cent). NCC disclosed though that the Nigerian telecoms sector had experienced a lot of growth over the last two decades. “For example, the sector has experienced a significant increase in the number of subscribers and an exponential increase in the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). “For the country’s FDI gains, the industry moved from a paltry $60 million private sector investment in 2000 to about $68 billion in 2016,” the Commisssion said. In the first quarter of 2022, the sector attracted a total of $57.79 million in foreign direct investments. This is according to the latest capital importation report released by the National Bureau of Statistics ((NBS).
This shows a 2.6 per cent increase year-on-year when compared with the $56.28 million the sector attracted in Q1 2021. The NBS data also revealed that the funds attracted by the telecom sector accounted for 3.67 per cent of the total capital importation in the first quarter of this year, which stood at $1.57 billion. The Q1’22 figure came as a respite for the telecoms sector, which had been consistently recording a decline in foreign investments over the last five years.
This was despite the government’s sustained efforts at wooing foreign investors into the Nigerian telecoms sector, with broadband infrastructure at the heart of various international campaigns. However, much as there has been a lot of progress in the sector, there is also high level of capital flight. According to statistics made available by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ALTON), the annual outflow of foreign exchange for the sector amounts to approximately $2.16 billion.
The Association stated that CAPEX programmes take $750 million; Network Software Licensing takes $250 million; $800 million goes to Management Fees; $157 million spent on Managed Services (Tier 2 & 3 Support); and $200 million is spent on miscellaneous including international circuit, roaming and terminations reconciliations. To reverse the trend, the Federal Government has declared determination to grow the local content and develop at least 80 percent of the local production. To this end, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, had directed the NCC to stop importation of telecoms products especially those that could be produced locally such as SIM cards and others.
The minister, who was furious about the rate of telecoms equipment importation, gave the marching order recently, saying: “Henceforth, the Federal government will not tolerate importation of anything into the country, when we have the capacity to produce it. In fact, let me make it clear that the federal government will no longer tolerate the importation of SIM cards, for instance. We are now producing them in Nigeria. “Our aim is to increase indigenous content in the ICT sector so that by 2025, we will be self-reliant by at least 80 per cent. We urge stakeholders and citizens to support government efforts to boost local patronage and consumption. If we do this, history will be kind to all of us. “The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC and the National Office for the Promotion of Indigenous Content, NODIT should enforce this policy.”
TRY IT TONIGHT!!! —
Abuja Civil Servant reveals (FREE) secret Fruits that Increased his Manh0d size, gives Stronger Erections and ends Premature Erection in 7days…
CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS.
