The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the total stock of investments in the nation’s telecommunications sector, comprising local and foreign direct investment (FDI) capital, climbed to $75,560,563,417.79 ($75.6 billion) as of the end of 2021.
The executive vice chairman of the commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, disclosed this at an interactive session with stakeholders in the communications media ecosystem in Lagos yesterday.
He stated that investment profile in the sector stood at $68 billion in 2018, thereafter increased to $70.5 billion in 2019, $72 billion in 2020 and $75,560,563,417.79 ($75.6 billion) at the end of 2021.
He disclosed that investments investment in the telecommunications sector in Nigeria is computed from two sources: the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the financial data obtained from service providers by the Commission.
While the CBN collects and calculates an element of the telecoms sector to include FDI, portfolio and others, the Commission collects investment figures from telecom licensees described as domestic investment arising from capital expenditure (CAPEX), which form part of the total investment.
Danbatta said through effective regulatory environment put in place by the commission, the telecom sector has recorded tremendous growth from an initial investment profile of $500 million as at 2001, when the sector was fully liberalised.
The executive vice chairman also said sector has continued to be a major contributor to Nigeria’s economy through an impressive sectoral contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product quarterly, up from about 8.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2015, contributing N10.126 trillion to the nation’s GDP in 2022 alone.
Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Danbatta said the telecoms sector contributed N10.126 trillion as an aggregate quarterly contribution to GDP in 2022.
“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 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.
On the whole, Danbatta said the sector has become a major enabler of economic development in Nigeria, as it continues to positively impact all the facets of the Nigerian 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.
In addition to the growth in investment and GDP contribution, Danbatta revealed that 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.
He also said broadband subscriptions on third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) networks increased to 92.2 million, representing a 48.28 per cent broadband penetration in the country.
