TECHDIGEST – Ahead of the deployment of the fifth generation technology (5G) in the country first quarter (Q1) this year, subscribers must brace to pay more for services provided on the network by mobile network operators (MNOs).

A senior executive of one of the biggest carriers in the country, who spoke on the sidelines of a well-attended forum convened to review the Information Memorandum (IM) for the deployment of 5G at the twilight of last year, said: “It is interesting how enthusiastic people are about 5G. With 3G and 4G, complaints of data depletion are all over the place. The NCC must be ready to attend to the barrage of complaints from subscribers because 5G will come at a premium cost.”

Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof Ibrahim Pantami said 5G will be approximately 20 times faster than 4G, adding that it will open many opportunities for businesses because of the quality of the service while allowing many devices to get connected implying that everything will be connected.

Former President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, said because of the cost factor, if 5G is rolled out this year as planned, it will be in areas where customers will be able to afford its cost.

He said aside the high cost of the 3.5gigahertz (GHz) spectrum, which will be used to roll out the services, the cost of devices, punitive business operating environment and cost of foreign exchange (forex) to procure 5G equipment will inevitably make end user tariffs go up.

He added: “If they are going to roll out 5G this year, they are going to roll out where it is affordable because even right now, as we look at the 4G, 3G tariffs, the data plans are geared towards those that can use more data. If that is the case, the more money you have, the more money you can spend, and if you can spend more, the operators will give you a deal that will enable you to access more data for the types of app you want to run. So anywhere in the world, that is the way it works, it’s not only in Nigeria.

“So, in short, it is going to be very unlikely that anyone that can spend a huge amount of money on 3.5GHz spectrum which at the moment and until they pay is $273million, just think about that $273million for spectrum for 10 years, that is $3.7million every year, that is for spectrum alone.’’

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TECHDIGEST – Experts in the telecommunication industry have said the move by the Federal Government to tax social media companies is right because the companies generate commercial revenues from the nation.

According to Meta, 7.5 per cent value-added tax will be applied on sales of ads to advertisers from January 2022, and this applies to all non-resident businesses that provide digital service in the nation.

The company’s spokesperson said, “Starting in the New Year, Nigeria will implement a new value-added tax. This law requires all non-resident businesses that provide digital services to charge an additional 7.5 per cent in tax. This includes advertising services like those from Facebook.

“Facebook is required to charge VAT on the sale of ads to advertisers, regardless of whether you’re buying ads for business or personal purposes. All advertisers with a business in the country of Nigeria will be charged an additional 7.5 per cent VAT on advertising services purchased beginning 1 January 2022. As with all VAT, companies like Meta will be collecting this tax on behalf of the Nigerian government.”

The National Coordinator, Alliance for Affordable Internet, Olusola Teniola, noted that the move by the FG was aimed at increasing its revenue through taxes.

He said, “It is all under the auspices of the government trying to increase its revenue. There has been a debate even amongst the OECD countries, as to how they can achieve taxation of digital companies.

“And there has been an agreement that there should be an adopted taxation model. The issue here is that Africa is the weaker partner under the OECD countries. So, when the developed countries that form part of the OECD agreed to tax up to about 15 per cent of revenue generated from their countries, they didn’t consider revenues generated from African countries.

“So, each country is having to devise a method as to how it can estimate the amount of taxation due to them from the transactions made on these platforms. Recently, there has been an agreement that any transaction on these platforms will attract a levy.

”According to Teniola, Nigeria’s approach is very similar to that of Ghana.

He added, “I think Ghana is also placing a levy on not only social media transactions, but on many other such transactions.

“But for us as an industry, we need to find a way to engage the government on a way to cushion the effect on consumers.”

He said since the VAT would naturally be transferred to the consumer, a way to cushion this impact, especially as the increase in digital transactions would continue, had to be adopted too.

The President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Adeolu Ogunbanjo said, “One of the things the Federal Government has said to social media companies is how to tax them. Facebook is being used for adverts, commercially, which calls for some sort of taxes, which of course is one of the duties of this government: to widen the tax net.

“However, because we are using it for advertising, I think this move is only right. And we have been informed by the way. They’ve carried us along – which is one of our rights – that there would be tax and that they are negotiating with the owners of these social media companies. I think it is alright as the Federal Government would have more revenue.

“We need to wait and see how the tax would be implemented first before we criticise this move.”

Recently, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, hinted at the introduction of new tariffs and levies as the nation’s economy continues to recover in 2022.

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TECHDIGEST – Cybersecurity experts have raised concerns over Nigeria’s ability to respond to possible cyberthreats, questioning the efficiency of the country’s lead advisory team and the management of its dedicated fund.

The Cybercrime Advisory Council, led by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, was set up in 2016 and was tasked with checking rising cybercrimes and formulating the modalities for implementing the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act 2015.

While Nigeria is yet to face a significant cyber attack, experts say the country does not need to wait until that happens before it takes action. They argue that with growing incidents of cybercrimes globally, structures put in place to address such threats need to be functional and funds judiciously used.

Nigeria lost about N250 billion in 2017 and N288 billion in 2018 to cybercrime, a Proshare report said.

Aligning with global trend, Nigeria enacted the Cybercrimes Act in May 2015, its first law to deal with cyber crimes.

The law gave strength to a 2011 ECOWAS protocol on fighting cybercrime, and to the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy adopted on February 5 of same year.

The legislation empowered the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Attorney General of the Federation to enforce its provisions, and mandated the establishment of a fund for its operations. It also made it mandatory for the government to set up a multi-agency Cybercrime Advisory Council and the National Cyber Security Fund maintained with the CBN and administered by the NSA.

The fund is funded by a 0.005 per cent levy on all transactions by GSM service providers, telecommunication companies, internet service providers, banks and other financial institutions, insurance companies, and the Nigerian stock exchange.

On April 19, 2016, the Buhari government set up a 31-member council made up of representatives of various establishments and civil society.

With that decision, Nigeria became the fifth African country and the first in West Africa to enact the cybercrime law and set in motion strategies for its implementation.

The inaugurated council was tasked with formulating the modalities for implementing the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act 2015.

The CBN on July 4, 2018, set up the cyber-security fund after instructing the relevant organisations to set aside required levies from online transactions made by Nigerians.

However, there are concerns over the efficiency of the council and the management of the multibillion naira fund.

For instance, while the legislation mandates the council to meet four times a year, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the council has only met six times since they were constituted in 2016.

The last time the council meeting was on July 20, 2020. By the provisions of the law, the council should have met about 20 times at the time. There are also questions surrounding the lack of transparency in the management of the funds.

A member of the council, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the council has not been serving the purpose for which it had been set up. The source said since the council has only been able to meet about six times since it was set up in 2016, its efficiency has been called to question “and members are not happy’’.

“We should have met at least 20 times if we are to go by the stipulations of the Act but the NSA rarely calls for meetings. His excuse is that he is always busy. But we know that with the emerging cyber threats world over, this is the right time for the council to be fully functional and discharge its roles but this is not so,’’ the source said.

The source also said there needs to be more openness in the management of the funds and its disbursement should be “for only projects approved by the council’’ and not ‘unilaterally’ approved by the NSA.

The mechanism through which the fund is to be disbursed is not clearly defined in the law and this has made its management at the discretion of the NSA, sources within the council argued.

Section 44(5) merely says up to 40 per cent of the fund “may be allocated for programmes countering violent extremism”. It is not clear if the funds have been deployed in dealing with the violence in the North-east and other parts of the country.

Section 43 also says the fund will be applied “toward the functions of the Council” as well as “establishing an enabling environment and formulating general policy, which includes awarding research and graduate training grants in the cybersecurity field”.

One source said members were stunned recently when, after months of inactivity amid the COVID crisis, the NSA launched a National Cyber-security Policy and Strategy document “which had minimal input from the council members’’.

The source said the NSA also early this year, perhaps in reaction to the unease among members of the council over his handling of its activities, replaced some members.

The source, who was particularly concerned about the lack of transparency in the management of the fund, said “there is no accountability as per the resources that should have been utilised to meet specific timelines and projects specified in the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy adopted in 2015’’.

‘’For now, the NSA runs a ‘one-man show’ in which council members are now mere onlookers,” the source said. “The main reason why these members were selected from various establishments was to help the NSA implement the strategy as clearly spelt out in the act and the relevant projects to help Nigeria address cyberthreats and related crimes. But now, the council is dormant and has failed to serve the purpose for which it was set up. We don’t meet regularly to agree on anything.’’

Efforts to get a reaction from the NSA on the report were not successful as his known phone line was switched off despite several attempts to connect.

Two officials in the Office of the NSA initially agreed to speak on the matter on the condition of anonymity, but later failed to send a response days after an email was sent to them as requested.

A subsequent reminder sent to one of the officers asked to give an official response was not responded to.

Also, the director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, did not respond to enquiries from PREMIUM TIMES on the status of the fund, days after he also asked that the questions are sent to him via his phone.

Separately, PREMIUM TIMES confirmed that banks and related financial outfits have been remitting fees from customers’ online transactions into the fund, as directed by the law.

A member of the council who represents the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, told PREMIUM TIMES the council convenes whenever pertinent issues that the NSA needs assessing are brought to its (his) attention.

“The most recent one to my knowledge was the updating of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy that was concluded efficiently and on time and approved by Mr President Buhari GCFR earlier this year,” he said.

He said the policy and strategy document released is relevant “and all the focus should be on implementation and execution of the numerous recommendations already laid out. This is still work in progress and engagements with critical stakeholders will begin in earnest.’’

He added that “all cyber threats are actively being monitored by all stakeholders in a collaborative manner. Cyberspace is vast and the most critical stakeholders are you and I. There is a need to raise public awareness programmes across all communities and of course, distil digital literacy to encourage safe internet usage.’’

Mr Teniola’s optimism is not shared by some industry experts who want Nigerians to take more than a cursory interest in the nation’s preparedness for cyber threats and how the funds are being managed.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Cyberspace Studies, Nasarawa State University, Uche Mbanaso, said Nigeria is ill-prepared to handle cyber-threats, arguing that the NSA-led council is not enough.

“The fund is a good initiative. This is what almost every other country does to be able to appropriately fund such a complex security terrain in cyberspace,’’ he told PREMIUM TIMES. “However, the cybersecurity sector in Nigeria has really suffered a lot of setbacks simply because there is really no agency mapped out to take the responsibility of cybersecurity.’’

“Cybersecurity is very vast and complex. In many instances, it is not something you can subsume under ONSA (Office of the NSA) because ONSA, for instance, doesn’t have its own staff. It takes staff from security and intelligence agencies. You cannot enhance cybersecurity by ad-hoc staff. You need a consistent and sustainable workforce that can champion cybersecurity,’’ he notes.

He also said policing the cyberspace is not as easy as policing the physical space.

‘’Before someone gets into our physical space in Nigeria, he (or she) must obtain a visa. Someone coming into your cyberspace does not need a visa. Someone coming into Nigeria also has to pass through immigration. Not so for cyberspace. These are some of the factors that make policing cyberspace a very complex and sophisticated venture.’’

He said Nigeria is not yet serious about securing its cyberspace.

“UK has nothing less than six agencies that work on cybersecurity. There are different aspects of cybersecurity. Look at our critical infrastructure, for instance, it is very huge. Many countries have agencies just for the protection of critical infrastructure. They also have agencies that are dedicated to responding to threats. They have agencies that deal with research and development.”

The scholar, who said it was time for the nation to take practical steps to secure its cyber assets, then took a swipe at the council.

“Who are those in the advisory council? How many experts are in that council? People cannot give what they don’t have. The council is made up of mostly civil servants. Most of them don’t have anything to offer as per knowledge in cybersecurity. This is an area that needs expertise. In years to come, our military may be procuring cyberweapons with millions of U.S. dollars and even exporting it from Nigeria will be a tug of war. Cyberweapon is more lethal than a nuclear weapon. Why not start now by creating centres of excellence? We don’t want to invest….’’

Uche Mbanaso The Executive Director, the Centre for Cyberspace Studies, Nasarawa State University
Ayoola Falola, a cybersecurity expert based in Abuja said the NSA-led team appears set up for failure.

“Just like many other ‘advisory’ councils set-up in Nigeria – the law mandates ministries and MDAs to ‘donate’ members. There is no care if such government establishments have the right staffing and framework to support such membership,” he said.

‘’Cybersecurity is a fast-paced industry; but based on the membership representation from government agencies, the council doesn’t seem to have enough theoretical and technical knowledge to support the mandate they are given.

‘’To help make the council effective, I recommend they elect permanent members (based strictly on merit) and invest in a programme that would keep the council busy and engage the ‘stakeholders’ to ensure that the goals of the act are established and fulfilled.’’

He also called for more transparency in the management of the cybersecurity funds and called for more companies to be made to contribute to it.

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TECH DIGEST – As the suspension of Twitter gets into the second week, the Federal Government is yet to release conditions for the reversal of the indefinite suspension despite claiming to be in talks with the social media company.

While the Federal Government plans to enforce the licensing of over-the-top (OTT) players, it appears such a move is not a priority for players. The Guardian learnt at the weekend that the players, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Koo and Twitter might snub the Federal Government’s move, as they preface OTT operators in the meantime.

A senior official of Facebook, who spoke anonymously with The Guardian at the weekend, said the social media platform is not responding to issues as regards licensing and registering of Facebook in Nigeria.

“If it is to respond to why we deleted President Buhari’s post, yes, we can respond to that, which we have been doing. Such posts negate the principles of Facebook. But whether we are coming to register formally here, we are not responding to that, at least for now,” the official said.

Last year, Facebook announced plans for an office in Nigeria, which was to be located in the commercial and tech hub of Lagos. But five years after the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced same plans during his visit to the country, the tech giant has made no further move on it.

The office location is expected to be secured and become operational by the second half of 2021. During the said period, although not confirmed, the company might begin the recruitment of a team of engineers, sales, partnership, policy, communication experts and register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

As revealed by Facebook’s Head of New Product Experimentation, Ime Archibong, the attraction to Nigeria was borne out of the pool of tech talents within the country.
Despite the ongoing faceoff between Twitter and the Federal Government, the co-founder and CEO of the platform, Jack Dorsey, on Saturday, tweeted the flag of the country in an apparent reference to the celebration of Democracy Day in Nigeria.

But some hours later, as June 12 protests topped the trends chat in Nigeria and across the world, Twitter CEO in another tweet said: “The people of Nigeria will lead bitcoin” despite Nigerian authorities clampdown on the trading of cryptocurrencies.

Dorsey’s take was a direct reaction to an oped written by NFL star, Russell Okung in Bitcoin Magazine. Okung, a Nigerian descendant and self-acclaimed Bitcoin proponent, advised Nigeria to focus on achieving “economic independence and financial sovereignty” by establishing a Bitcoin Standard. Nigeria is one of the largest cryptocurrency markets in the world, though the country’s Central Bank has prohibited financial institutions from trading in cryptocurrency.

This new move, many say, show a Twitter company not ready to buckle to the demands of the Federal Government. Even the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who last week said that Twitter had approached the government for negotiation, at the weekend, however, described Twitter’s approach as “tepid”, noting that there has been no follow up from an initial message from Twitter received through a foreign mission that the social media company was open to negotiation.

The micro-blogging platform, which is currently accessible to Nigerians who have bypassed government’s restrictions through VPN, promised that it will continue to advocate free and open Internet everywhere as it continues to amplify the trend #KeepTweeting, #KeepitOn and other hash tags in defiance of government’s ban.

Already, Twitter has commenced recruitment for talents for its office in Ghana, which is expected to equally serve the Nigerian market.

Notably, Facebook has been running its African operations from its South African headquarters, the first on the continent, for the past five years. Headed by Nunu Ntshingila-Njeke, the activities were planned with an initial focus on Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.

According to a statement in 2020, operations from the planned Lagos office are anticipated to boost growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The team will be responsible for building African-focused products while contributing to the growth of the African tech ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the cost of suspension of Twitter’s operations by the Federal Government continues to rise. About 10 days into the ban, the losses have hit at least N25 billion. While social media influencers who earn a living from monetized tweets and other social media posts have started counting their losses, brands running marketing campaigns are exploring options, as the hope of immediate lifting of the suspension dims.

The government had noted that the suspension was temporary but later said it would be indefinite. Both Twitter and the Federal Government, last week, said it would be indefinite.

According to NetBlocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and governance of the Internet, each hour of the suspension costs Nigeria $250,000 (N102.5 million), bringing the daily loss to N2.46 billion. It means the economy would have lost approximately N24.6 billion in the past 10 days.

But social media influencers, who feel the pang of the suspension directly, said millions of Nigerian youths have lost their livelihoods in the past week, as Twitter is central to instant communication marketing. An influencer, Benedict Amama, told The Guardian the two jobs he was handling when the suspension came could fetch him a reasonable amount of money.

“The campaign has been cancelled because the time frame has elapsed. That means I have lost the money. Thousands of campaigns scheduled for the past week were either cancelled or put on hold. The ban is more impactful as Twitter campaigns are the most active social media marketing in Nigeria,” he said.

Another social media entrepreneur said an average social media influencer would have lost N100,000 to N200,000 in the past week, warning that continued suspension would worsen restiveness among youths. There is no data showing the number of youths earning a living from social media but those in the business said the number is huge and growing by the day.
With the suspension, more than 39 million active users have been prevented from accessing their Twitter accounts to drive business and other engagements. Also, the process of transition by customers to other social networks will not be immediate as company-customer relationship continues to suffer while the ban lasts.

Twitter has been the major source of interaction between companies as customers’ complaints through this medium are quickly addressed. The value chain of people benefiting from Twitter as a marketing tool to share information and network business ideas is huge. Also, the economy of e-commerce businesses thrives online on digital platforms with the majority of business partners surfing the internet and using their Twitter handles to buy, sell and network ideas.

Notwithstanding the losses, an investment expert, Dr. Uba Chiwuike, said the ban also has positive impacts as it opens an opportunity for the government to rake in incomes from the operations of digital media companies in the country. He, however, admitted the negative consequences are huge for the country’s economy.

Uba said: “On the positive side, the ban has revealed the need to develop a legal framework for Internet tax in Nigeria. Nigeria makes no money from Twitter from tax, despite over 30 million Twitter users in Nigeria. Some of the users use Twitter for their adverts.”

The suspension has already created a market access gap for millions of small and medium scale enterprises (SMSEs) that use the platform to reach their customers. This could potentially complicate the challenges COVID-19 and other structural defects had imposed on businesses. Also hit is the e-commerce market in the country, estimated at $12 billion.

Despite Federal Government’s official endorsement of Koo, a new social media platform, for its interactions, many Nigerians are yet to embrace the India-based app, as citizens desperately hunt for VPNs to bypass the Twitter ban. On Saturday, issues and discussions by Nigerians were on many of the Top Ten Trends across the world as citizens made posts and updates on the June 12 protests using locations of many countries through VPN to access Twitter.

Koo was launched in India, its home market, last year and has managed to secure funding of around $30 million from investors such as Tiger Global. Radhakrishna said that the start-up has “aggressive plans to grow into one of the world’s largest social media platforms” and claims vast domestic support for this. As of press time, there was no confirmation from CAC if Koo has been formally registered in the country.

On the tangle between the FG and Twitter, the Nigeria Coordinator, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), Olusola Teniola, said it’s going to be a ‘both sides’ blink at the same time to avoid any reputational damage.

Teniola said the latest news that the AGF has clarified that Nigerians, wherever they are and those foreigners living in Nigeria will not face prosecution for accessing Twitter demonstrates that the government is running out of any more options to influence how the social media platform is used in Nigeria.

The A4AI chief said with VPN access to Twitter, then it lessens the government’s position. “I strongly recommend and advise that both parties reach an amicable resolution and we can all move on from this situation.

“There has only been bruised egos and anger from those that use and rely on the platform. Information shared on the platform is also available from other online services and the Internet in general.”

On losses incurred since the ban came to force, Teniola, a former president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), said it (losses) can only be quantified after the FG has resolved all issues they have with Twitter.

He said the ban in the true sense is not enforceable and alternatives exist, adding that the opportunity to reach out to the global community of Twitter users represents a loss that each MSME will have to measure.

According to him, the government should either build its own social media platform as opposed to migrating to another foreign-owned platform that may run into the same problem that got FG into the same situation in the first place.

Teniola said the Twitter Community Rules are not perfect but are mostly all encompassing. He disclosed that any other platform will need to ensure that its rules are enforceable to sustain a level of sanity in a world of a free open Internet.

On the possibility of Facebook and other OTTs operating with licenses in Nigeria, Teniola said: “Easy if they so wish! Already Google and other big tech companies that wish to have a presence in Nigeria have registered with CAC. However, big tech companies usually take a long-term view and carry out a careful assessment of the benefits of locating a presence in any country of interest.”

Speaking with The Guardian a senior official in one of the telecommunications companies, said Twitter access remains blocked in Nigeria as directed by the FG. He warned that Nigerians should be careful using VPN not to get exposed to cybercriminals.

According to him, there was a plan to block access to WhatsApp ahead of the June 12 protest by youths and some Nigerians, “but I don’t know who advised the FG to drop the plan.”

He said there has not been any direct loss to the telecoms operators, because of other data spinning platforms, “however, the losses remain with online influencers, social media strategists, among others, who major mostly in Twitter. But for the telcos, at least for now, no losses per se.”

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TECH DIGEST – The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Thursday re-emphasized the resolve of the Federal Government, through the Ministry, to continually advance the digital economy agenda of the country.

The Minister’s statement was contained in a keynote address he delivered at the maiden edition of the National Dialogue on Telecoms and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sectors in Nigeria held at the NAF Conference Centre & Suites, Abuja.

The event which was organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in collaboration with other industry stakeholders had as its theme: ‘Harnessing the Digital Resources for the Building of our National Economy.’

Represented by the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the Minister said the event with the overarching theme and sub-themes lined up for discussions, was apt and timely, given the increased reliance of individuals and businesses on digital platforms to carry out their activities.

He stated that the digital economy journey started by the Ministry, following the President’s approval in 2019, culminated in the development of an eight-pillar National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) with a view to providing a more coordinated and enhanced national policy direction for transforming Nigeria’s economy into a truly digital economy.

Pantami said that NDEPS is a policy document that addresses different aspects of development that require attention in order to have a vibrant digital economy, adding that, like Nigeria, most nations are prioritising the need to develop their digital economy because of the multiplier effect on all other sectors of the economy.

He noted some of the challenges of the digital economy to include rapid evolution of technology and widening inequalities between the digital “haves” and “haves-not”; the need for new regulations; cybercrime and other threats; low level of digital literacy; and the need for infrastructure.

He expressed optimism about Nigeria’s digital economy strategy, the economic growth and productivity; increased transparency; growth of digital innovation and entrepreneurship; digitisation of work and useful insights from big data as some of the opportunities that abound and from which the economy will gain.

“The telecom and ICT sector stand to gain a lot from the development of our digital economy and the public and private sector need to come on board to maximise the impact on the entire economy,” the Minister said.

But speaking in his capacity as the EVC of NCC and lead presenter at the second panel session on the theme: “National Funding and Investment Strategy for Broadband Infrastructure and Digital Economy,” Danbatta focused on what the Commission had done in the last five years, especially in stimulating the development of resilient ICT infrastructure and the benefits these regulatory efforts have brought to the economy.

Situating his presentation in the context of ‘Nigeria’s Telecom Sector: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,’ Danbatta explained that access gaps in the country have been reduced from 217 in 2015 to 114.

“We have licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos); we have introduced innovative policies such as spectrum trading and spectrum farming; broadband penetration has increased from 6 per cent to 43.3 per cent in the last five years.

“Also, from 8 per cent in 2015, the telecoms sector contributed over 14 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as in the second quarter of 2020, valued at N2.3 trillion,” Danbatta said.

Meanwhile, Prof. Danbatta has urged telecom operators in the country to settle the huge interconnect debts being owed by various industry operators, noting that this should be resolved in the wider interest of the industry.

Danbatta said the “interconnectivity indebtedness valued at over N70 billion is a big challenge to infrastructure expansion and inimical to healthy competition” which are needed for facilitating digital economy in Nigeria.

Earlier in his welcome address, the President of ATCON, Olusola Teniola, said the national dialogue was targeted at harnessing the digital resources in the country with a view to optimising innovative ideas to effectively pursue the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government.

The event featured insightful panel discussion sessions by industry stakeholders and goodwill messages by state governments’ representatives across the six geo-political zones, who used the platform to talk about how their states were leveraging ICT deployment to drive their economic activities and the development of their states.

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