Telecoms sector employs 500,000, records $70bn investment – NCC

• The Telecoms sector employs 500,000, records $70bn investment
• MTN: Nigeria’s active mobile subscriptions hit 211.8 million

According to Prof. Umar Danbatta, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, the telecommunications industry supports 500,000 jobs.

In addition, he noted that the industry’s contribution to the GDP had increased from negligible to 12.61 percent as of the third quarter of 2021, emphasizing that the sector had attracted investments totaling $70 billion to date.

Speaking to a variety of stakeholders at the Cyberchain Abuja, in 2022, he revealed this.

He said, “From $500m investments in the sector as of 2001, the telecommunications industry has recorded over $70bn investment till date, while the growth in the sector has been phenomenal, from some 400,000 functional phone lines in 2001 to over 209 million active mobile subscriptions, achieving a teledensity of 110 percent, as at August 2022.

“The sector has provided over 500,000 formal and informal jobs for Nigerians. From an insignificant contribution to GDP in 2001, the telecoms sector, as of the last quarter of 2021, contributed 12.61 percent to GDP, while the Information and Communications Technology sector as a group, has also contributed 18.44 percent to GDP as of the second quarter of 2022.”

Despite the progress the commission has accomplished, Danbatta claims that it will continue to promote cutting-edge technologies in order to revitalize the economy of the country. According to him, the industry was a crucial enabler of economic activity, changing the way people lived and worked while boosting productivity in other economic sectors.

MTN: Nigeria’s active mobile subscriptions hit 211.8 million

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s active mobile subscriptions hit 211.8 million in the first quarter of 2022.

In September, there were 211.8 million active subscriptions for telecommunications services on the mobile networks of MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile. This is based on the most recent industry statistics made available by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The analysis proves that MTN, which registered the most extensive growth of 1.6 million subscriptions in the month, was the driving force behind the increase. The combined active mobile subscription database for the country stood at 209.6 million in August, hence the 4 GSM operators collectively saw a 2.3 million rise in subscriptions in September.

The number of active telephone connections per 100 people residing in an area, as measured by teledensity, increased as a result of the growth reported by the operators, rising from 109.99% in August to 111.50% in September 2022. The teledensity is determined based on a population estimate of 190 million, according to NCC.

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