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We Have Strategic Plan to Address Infrastructure Deficit in the Telecom Sector– Danbatta

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Says, all 774 LGAs in Nigeria will  enjoy broadband

There is a holistic, strategic plan being conscientiously implemented to address the infrastructure deficit in the telecommunications sector with the objective to bridge the digital divide which had undermined Nigeria’s march to a robust digital economy.

Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has asserted, and emphasised that telecoms infrastructure deployment across rural communities in Nigeria is at the heart of every effort of Government towards ensuring the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

Danbatta made these declarations at the International Conference Centre Abuja, while delivering a keynote presentation at the 2021 national conference, exhibition, and annual general meeting of the Nigerian Society of Engineers which started two days ago.

At the conference, with the overarching theme “EXPANSION OF THE ENERGY MIX FOR NATIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH”, Danbatta spoke focusing on a sub-theme, “Strategic Collaboration between the Town and Gown for Effective Rural Development”, at the 6th Roundtable Symposium of the Nigerian Society of Engineers’ College of Fellows.

The NCC CEO said that the vision of the Federal Government as enunciated in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030) and the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) is being vigorously implemented. Explaining the connection between these policies and NCC’s operations, Danbatta stated that the NCC’s Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2020-2024, streamlined in the Commission’s Strategic Vision Plan (2021-2025) to enhance operational and regulatory efficiency, is aligned with the Federal Government’s vision for an all-inclusive digital economy.   

Accordingly, to improve Nigeria’s broadband infrastructure, Danbatta reiterated that NCC has divided Nigeria into seven (7) Zones, consisting of the existing 6 constitutional geopolitical divisions, and Lagos constituting the seventh, considering the importance of Lagos as a strategic commercial and technological hub within the structure of the Nigeria’s telecom ecosystem.

“The NCC has proceeded to licence companies for each of the seven zones, to deploy broadband infrastructure that will ensure speed of up to 25 megabits per second in the rural areas. Each of the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria will have an initial access point of at least 10 megabits per second.”

To demonstrate NCC’s readiness to race at the same tempo with the Federal Government as articulated in the policy documents, Danbatta stated that the licensed companies, otherwise known as Infrastructure Companies (Infracos), have been directed to move to site to cascade broadband infrastructure to the hinterland.

The EVC affirmed that there is timeframe for the implementation of these projects, including the building of specialised technology centres in the rural areas to enable stakeholders to harness huge benefits of ICT.

The NCC CEO stated that the Commission is waiting to see the Infracos demonstrate creditable level of deployment in the cities and also discharge the burden of proof of the existence of access points in LGAs in the next five months.

Otherwise, he stressed that the Commission may have “to take firm regulatory decisions” in the interest of the Nigerian people and start-ups, who have been waiting for the deployment of rural tech solutions to make contributions to the growth of the economy by exploring derivable benefits that accrue from a digitised economy.

Prof. Danbatta said one of the benefits of digital economy that NCC has collaborated with stakeholders to bring to fruition, is in the area of digital inclusion, where NCC has been collaborating with stakeholders, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure the target of 80 percent digital inclusion is achieved within the timeframe.

He said NCC will continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to enhance innovation, competition and participation in governance by the citizenry, which is one of the hallmarks of digital culture.

The EVC informed the enthusiastic audience at the Conference that Nigeria already has about 40,000 unique transceiver stations and their uniqueness is underpinned by their characteristics as enablers of 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. However, Prof. Danbatta asserted that this figure is inadequate for a country with Nigeria’s size and population. “The United Kingdom with less population, according to the EVC, has over 60,000 of such stations” he stated.

Besides, the licensing and direction given to the Infracos, Prof. Danbatta outlined NCC’s interventions to accelerate the bridging of the digital divide to include: construction of 250 kilometer of Backbone Transmission infrastructure (BTRAIN); 72 Rural Broadband Initiative (RUBI) projects; 1,334 School Knowledge Centres (SKCs); 192 Community Resource Centres (CRCs); Development and deployment of 218 of Local Content for E-Learning; 74 Information Resource Centres (E-Library); Clusters of Access Gaps Reduced from 217 to 112; Digitally Excluded Nigerians reduced from 40 million to 15 million.

Danbatta, whose keynote speech is titled, ‘ICT Facilities for Infrastructure Development’, recognised the imperative of ‘Town-Gown’ collaboration and admitted that as communities and universities confront the increasingly complex social and physical pressures, there is need for effective alignment between these two entities to maximize local resources, knowledge acquisition and efforts towards facilitating deployment of ICT infrastructure to the rural communities.

The EVC maintained that the provision of infrastructure in rural areas plays significant role in promoting entrepreneurship and economic progress for its dwellers and serves as enabler of better quality of life for rural dwellers through the diversification of the rural economy that digital culture enhances.

Danbatta bemoaned the level of ICT adoption and usage in the rural areas, declaring that it is low, compared to the rate of adoption in urban centres. This challenge, he attributed partly to inadequacy of ICT infrastructure, cost of ICT infrastructure deployment and challenge of energy (electricity).

Despite being Africa’s largest ICT market, and a dominant player in the sector, Danbatta affirmed that Nigeria still accounts for a sizeable percentage of the 1 billion world population of unconnected people. However, the EVC stated that NCC is driving the implementation of an ambitious infrastructure project to ensure that the unconnected population of the country are given the opportunity for digital inclusion. He said this reality explains NCC’s frontline role in driving improvement in communications infrastructure in the rural communities where majority of the digitally excluded segment of the population resides.

The foregoing according to the EVC, is the reason the Commission has also partnered and collaborated with all relevant stakeholders, as well as explored cooperation through several discussions with both state and non-state actors  to give concrete expression to its commitment to strategic collaboration and partnership, which remains a defining matrix of its operational activities.

The EVC stated that the Commission will continue to engage appropriate stakeholders and explore necessary uptakes towards improving on all infrastructure that support digital economy particularly expansion projects in rural areas because rural infrastructure deployment is central to bridging digital divide in Nigeria.     

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Cover Story

Visa Unveils Africa Fintech Accelerator Program to Kickstart $1bn Investment

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Visa has announced the launch of the new Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program to help enable Africa’s expanding start-up community through expertise, connections, technology, and investment funding. 

The launch of the Africa Fintech Accelerator program follows Visa’s recent pledge to invest $1 billion in Africa’s digital transformation and its long-term commitment to advancing Africa’s economies and driving inclusive growth.

The initiative was introduced by Visa Executive Chairman Alfred F. Kelly Jr. at Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator will enable up to 40 start-ups each year to accelerate and grow through a three-month intensive learning program focused on business growth and mentoring.

Following the program completion, Visa intends to further support fintech growth with capital investment in select participating businesses, while accelerating their commercial launch through access to Visa technology and capabilities.

Fintech startups throughout Africa can apply to be part of the program through two application phases each year, starting from July 2023. With more than 1,000 Africa Fintech start-ups taking part in the Visa Everywhere Initiative* (VEI) competition in 2022, finalists from Africa country editions this year will be invited to join the accelerator program.

“Africa has one of the most exciting and admired fintech ecosystems in the world, bringing outstanding entrepreneurial talent to a young digital-first population that is growing fast,” said Alfred F Kelly Jr., Executive Chairman, Visa, Inc. “Visa has been increasing our investments in Africa for decades and strengthening partnerships throughout the continent to support the next wave of innovation and growth.  Our new Fintech Accelerator will bring expertise, connections, and investment to Africa’s best fintech start-ups so they can grow at scale.”

The support for participating fintechs will help further strengthen the payment ecosystem by fast-tracking new innovations and technologies that provide solutions to challenges that are unique to the African continent, and which can further advance Africa’s digitization. In line with Visa’s corporate purpose to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid, this support of Africa’s fintechs will facilitate additional opportunities to expand financial inclusion.

“Africa’s fintech community is at the forefront of payments innovation and connecting more of the unbanked with access to the digital economy,” said Otto Williams, Head of Partnerships, Products and Solutions, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa. “Visa has been working with this innovative community to create new programs and solutions to help fintechs scale, while giving access to Visa’s technology and partner ecosystem.  Through the new Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator, we are looking forward to working with more brilliant entrepreneurs and companies to shape the future of money.”

In addition to its $1 billion pledge to Africa, Visa has recently introduced several business initiatives and programs to further advance the payments ecosystem in Africa.  These include:

  • Establishing local operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan to help support and strengthen the local financial ecosystem. Visa has 10 offices across Africa from which it supports payments in all 54 countries.
  • Unveiling the first dedicated Visa Sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Studio, in Nairobi, Kenya, to provide a state-of-the-art environment to bring together clients and partners to co-create future-ready payment and commerce solutions.
  • Introducing and expanding new technologies that help African consumers and merchants make and receive digital payments, such as Tap to Phone to turn a simple mobile phone into point-of-sale terminal, as well as lowering remittance costs through innovative solutions like Visa Direct.
  • Establishing Visa as the fintech partner of choice, working with innovators and entrepreneurs, including through the Visa Everywhere Initiative program, with dedicated country programs in South Africa, Kenya and Egypt.
  • Launching new programs to support women’s empowerment together with financial partners, including She’s Next, which is bringing funding, mentoring and networking opportunities to female entrepreneurs leading growing SMBs in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa.
  • Collaborating, with partners, to advance financial literacy in several languages, including localized versions of Practical Money Skills in Egypt and Morocco for the first time.

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Nigeria’s Telecom Access Gaps Drop by 53%

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The number of identified areas of clusters across Nigeria without access to the telecommunications services has been reduced by 53.1 per cent as at the end of 2022.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, disclosed this at a recent telecoms industry stakeholders forum in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state.

Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by the Head, Pre-Licensing at the Commission, Usman Mamman, said from 207 clusters of access gaps in 2013, the industry has witnessed a reduction to 97 as of end 2022 by bridging 110 clusters of access gaps, representing a 53.1 per cent reduction.

He said by implication, the number of Nigerians who fell within the access gap which were estimated at 37 million in 2013 has been reduced to 27 million, following increased access to telecoms services by those hitherto not digitally included.

Access gaps refer to the cluster of communities or grouped areas in different parts of the country that are bereft of access to telecom services and till date, the NCC has reduced clusters of access gap by more than half.

Danbatta said, “We have worked tirelessly to ensure we bring telecom services to people living in rural, unserved, and underserved areas of this country, totalling 37 million people courtesy of the consultancy that was conducted in 2013.

“By 2019, we had succeeded in reducing the clusters of access gaps to 114 through the deployment of the necessary infrastructure needed to bring services to people living in rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country. The deployment of infrastructure is in terms of base transceiver stations, which resulted in the reduction of Nigerians in those clusters from 37 million to 31 million in 2019.

“By 2022, we have reduced the clusters of access gaps to 97 from 207 in 2013. The number of Nigerians again have come down from 37 million in 2013 to 27 million as we speak. We achieved this by deploying, from 2009 to 2011, a total of 79 new base transceiver stations,” he said

Danbatta stated that in 2013 to 2018, the telecom sector also witnessed the deployment of additional 124 base transceiver stations while from 2019 to 2022, a total of 364 base transceiver stations were deployed.

“So far, the total number of base transceiver stations we have deployed to date between the time the access gaps were identified till the end of 2022 are 567,” he said.

While describing the reduction in access gap so far as a landmark, Danbatta, however, said the Commission will not rest on its oars as it thrives to ensure that the remaining 27 million Nigerians, who currently lack access to telecoms services, are provided with services.

Meanwhile, the EVC said part the regulatory interventions of the Commission to bridge the remaining 97 access across the country to provide ubiquitous connectivity in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria are the issuance of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licences and the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) networks, among others.

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NCC Grants Routelink MVNO License

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The Nigerian Communications Commission has granted Routelink a Mobile Virtual Network Operating License.

The Mobile Virtual Operators’ License MVNO license is a new mobile license category in Nigeria aimed at bridging the gap between the Unserved and the Underserved in the society. The MVNO license is the third license to Routelink from NCC.

 THe group managing director of Routelink Group, Mr. Femi Adeoti said that the NCC granted this license to Routelink based on the perception of what it is  set to do in the market.

MVNOs are carriers that don’t have their own wireless network but instead, they piggyback off another carrier’s platform for coverage through their cell phone plans.

It is a new license category in Nigeria and the ultimate beneficiaries are the subscribers as it would translate into lower costs, more service options, and better quality of service.

“Routelink is excited about the opportunities that abound in the Nigerian telecom marketplace and is determined to make a major difference as regards quality of service and innovation,’’ Femi Adeoti said.

In its drive to create an enabling environment, the NCC has introduced the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) License that will generate employment and bridge the gap between the unserved and the Underserved in Society. It will also further engender competition and provide choices for telecommunication consumers.

 The.managing director of Routelink Telecom, Mr. Ikechukwu Nguzo said that the introduction of MVNOs in Nigeria has the potential to stimulate growth in the Nigerian telecom industry and benefit consumers in a number of ways, including coverage expansion, more innovative services, improved service offerings, and partnership opportunities.

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MVNOs have continued to gain traction across the world, with the increase in mobile phone users globally. The increased usage of smartphones and mobile data services, as well as the growing preference for flexible and customized mobile services, are primarily responsible for the growth.

However, the success of MVNOs in Nigeria would depend on various factors such as regulatory policies, infrastructure availability, and market demand.

Routelink Telecom provides advanced switching infrastructure and highly reliable Clearing House and Voice Gateway services to major Mobile Network Operators in Nigeria and International partners.

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