As Investments in telecoms hit $68b
The immediate past Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Toure, has painted a rosy picture of Nigeria’s economic horizon, singling out the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry as the plum goldmine with potential to bail the country out of the apparent worrisome economic quagmire.
Indeed, the Malian-born Dr. Toure went on to reveal that investment in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry has hit a cheery $68 billion as of July 2016, with foreign direct investment (FDI) standing at $35 billion.
Pointing to investment in broadband connectivity and infrastructure as “the next frontier” in Nigeria, Dr. Toure was unequivocal in his upbeat position about the Nigerian economic landscape:
“The new oil in Nigeria is ICT, and, data transmission is the way to go,” he declared while speaking as keynote speaker at the Nigerian Telecom Investment Forum in Bangkok, Thailand, during the just concluded ITU Telecom World conference.
According to Dr. Toure, Nigeria’s population, currently put at around 180 million, presents huge opportunities for investments in the telecom industry, which has remained on the upward swing since liberation commenced in 2001.
“The next growth for voice communication is in quality of service,” he noted, adding: “the country is certainly a preferred destination for telecommunications investors in Africa.”
He recalled with excitement that while he served as Secretary General of ITU, Nigeria occupied the number one position as the fastest growing telecoms sector for five consecutive years.
Dr. Toure’s audience at Nigerian Telecom Investment Forum included Communications Minister, Barr. Adebayo Shittu, Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, as well as a large number of potential foreign investors who thronged the forum to hear news about Nigeria and the investment potentials.
While commending the NCC for having “done a very good job with the way it has managed regulatory activities transparently and by the fact that law makers from Nigeria were also part of the audience” at the forum, Toure went on to emphasise the importance Nigeria attaches to the telecom sector as being appropriate.
Assuring existing and potential investors in Nigeria of Government support and protection at all times, Communications Minister, Barrister Shittu, who spoke on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari said since Nigeria was now navigating from resource based to knowledge based economy, “we want to encourage you (the investors) to renew your confidence in our country. Our doors are open and the ease of doing business in Nigeria is being improved upon.”