The competitiveness of Nigeria’s SMEs depends on the ability to leverage new technologies by acquiring the necessary digital skills to do business on an international scale.

This was disclosed by the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Danbatta at the 17th Abuja International Trade Fair on Tuesday, October 4, 2022 in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. He affirmed that the steady growth in the telecoms sector over the years with its persuasive positive impact on all other sectors of the economy in terms of increased automation of processes and digital transformation in service delivery is remarkable.

The NCC honcho, who was represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), Efosa Idehen, put the total number of active mobile subscribers reached at 210 million in August 2022 as against 208.6 million in July 2022, with teledensity of 109.99 percent. He also observed that internet subscribers exceeded 152.2 million, while broadband penetration stood at 44.65 percent.

Themed: ‘Creating an Export Ready Market through SME digitisation’, Danbatta said the trade fair could not have been made a better time, noting that it coincided with the time the Federal Government approved the deployment of the 5G technology. He pointed out that this significant milestone can only be sustained when there is a conducive environment. His words: “NCC has continued to create conducive environment that stimulates deployment of robust telecoms/broadband infrastructure for improving the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for telecoms consumers, be it individuals or corporates. This is because, as a country, we need robust telecoms infrastructure that will help our SMEs to transit to becoming Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-driven if we hope to be digitally competitive on the global stage.”

We are working assiduously with various stakeholders to see how more businesses would embrace digital platforms for delivering their services to the consumer, said Danbatta, noting that indeed, digitalization of the SME sector of the Nigerian economy is strongly connected to telecommunications, giving the power the telecom sector has to positively disrupt traditional business models. He explained that is why the growing demand for connectivity is pressuring telecom companies to upgrade their telecommunications infrastructure. As a result, network transformation has become far more imperative for innovative businesses, allowing them to address changing customer expectations.

The Director, CAB, Efosa Idehen, in his remarks, noted that the NCC has been driving initiatives for full launch of the 5G network in Nigeria, noting that spectrum licenses for the companies that would roll out the service had been issued.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.