The Executive Vice – Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida has disclosed that data consumption in the country increased by about 47% over the last twelve months.
He was speaking at the first ever Nigeria Digital Connectivity Investment Forum in Abuja, where he highlighted the data consumption surge as a product of policy reforms and quality sectoral oversight.
Maida said the Commission is determined to fulfil the dictates of its mandate in the area of encouraging investments in the sector.
“The Nigerian
Communications Act 2003 expressly recognises the importance of encouraging investment and gives the Commission a responsibility to facilitate it. We take that responsibility seriously, alongside our duty to protect consumers and
promote fair competition.”
He observed that” Today, the demands on those networks are much greater” therefore requiring greater investment.
“A trader waiting for a payment to go
through, a student joining an online class and a business serving customers across the country all
depend on a connection that works when they need it. As cloud services and artificial intelligence
become more widely used, that dependence will deepen.We can see the demand in our figures.
“Nigerians consumed about 1.66 million terabytes of data
in July this year, up from 1.13 million a year earlier. That is an increase of almost 47 per cent in
twelve months. Keeping pace will require sustained investment, both to expand networks and to
improve the experience of people already connected.
“We have been working to improve the conditions for that investment. The 2025 tariff adjustment
addressed the financial pressures on operators and their ability to invest, with a clear expectation
of better service for consumers.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s designation of
telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure has
strengthened the basis for protecting these assets. “Our engagement with state governments on
Right of Way is also helping to address deployment costs.
“We know that investors need confidence in how rules will be applied and how decisions will be
made. We also know that there is more work to do on the practical difficulties of deployment.
‘This forum is an opportunity to discuss those difficulties openly with the people who can help resolve them.
“We are making evidence-based decision-making central to how we regulate. For investors, that
should mean a clearer understanding of where the opportunities lie and greater confidence in the
basis for our decisions. For us, it means understanding what is holding investment back, choosing
our interventions carefully and checking whether they work.
“Our collaboration with Swedfund and Ookla is helping us build that understanding. It gives us
independent insight into the connectivity people actually experience. We combine this with other
network and market information to identify service gaps and areas that warrant closer investment
assessment. Publishing our network performance reports helps make that evidence available to
the wider market.
Our Consumer Data Lab, funded by the Gates Foundation and developed through NCC’s
collaboration with Innovations for Poverty Action, is one example of how we are bringing
evidence together. The team has since brought together Ookla’s data, consumer complaints and
information on operators’ interventions in a dashboard that lets us examine issues by location and
demographic group.
This helps us investigate service problems and assess whether operators’ interventions have
improved consumers’ experience. It also gives us a more useful picture of where further
deployment or network upgrades may be needed. We want investors to benefit from that
understanding, and from regulatory decisions that are clear, proportionate and supported by
evidence.
Over these two days, we will look at opportunities across Nigeria and explore the financing and
partnerships they require. Some will be ready for commercial investment. Others will need more
work on project preparation, shared infrastructure or development finance. I hope the evidence
presented here helps us have an honest discussion about what each opportunity needs to move
forward.
Please use the time together to make those connections. Bring forward the projects you believe
in, and tell us what is holding them back. Challenge the assumptions where you think they need
testing. Let us leave with a clear understanding of which opportunities we will pursue together and
what each of us will do next.
Nigeria’s next phase of growth will depend on how well we connect our people and businesses.
“The investment we help advance here should make it easier for Nigerians to earn a living, learn
and access essential services. That is the outcome we should keep in view throughout our
discussions.
“I welcome you once again and wish us a productive forum.