Nigeria’s telecoms sector defies recession as investments hit $68b
Nigeria economy may be in a recession, but the telecommunications sector seems not to be feeling it much as investment in the sector keeps rising. According to the former Secretary-General, International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Toure, investments in Nigeria’s telecoms sector hit $68billion in July 2016.
And out of this figure, $35billion came as Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), meaning that investors confidence in Nigeria’s telecoms sector have not been affected much by the sliding GDP.
Toure, who was keynote speaker at the Nigerian Telecoms Investment Forum at the just-concluded ITU Telecom World 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand, said these successes points to the fact that “the country is certainly a preferred destination for telecoms investors in Africa”.
He added that the country remains the place to invest because the population is huge, there is political stability and a very dynamic telecoms regulatory regime.
The ex-ITU scribe revealed that within 15 years from the time the telecoms sector was liberalised, subscribers have grown from a paltry 400,000 connected lines in 2001, to over 150million connected lines and a teledensity of 107 percent.
“The next growth for voice communication is in quality of service. The new oil in Nigeria is ICT and data transmission is the way to go.”
He was, particularly, excited that while he served ITU Secretary-General, Nigeria occupied the number one position as the fastest-growing telecoms sector for five consecutive years.
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