Business
By Anthony Isibor.
PROF. Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman/ceo, Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC, has said that adequate, robust and functioning infrastructure is the bedrock of communal and societal development.
Speaking at the 2021 virtual conference and exhibition on information communication technology and telecommunications, ICTEL, organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, on Tuesday, July 27 28, 2021, Danbatta urged the participants to suggest better and more innovative PPP approaches that may be explored by the government towards making telecoms infrastructure safer, more resilient, more robust, and able to attract more investment into the sector.
“Suffice it to say that, the role of public-private partnership in infrastructure development in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized because an adequate, robust and functioning infrastructure is the bedrock of communal and societal development.
“Therefore, to meet future challenges, our industries and infrastructure must be upgraded by evolving an enduring PPP model that services all the sectors of the economy. Objectively, the high level of infrastructure deficit and its attendant effect on socio-economic development in Nigeria explains government’s concern and search for an alternative means of providing infrastructure for Nigeria’s teeming population.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, if the telecom and ICT sector is the real ‘Infrastructure of infrastructure’ as it is often referred to because of its impact, efficiency and effectiveness on the growth of other sectors, it stands to reason, that the telecom sector is the most important sphere PPP should be adopted. Interestingly, a 2012 World Bank report already documented how public-private partnership (PPP) projects have been used to provide broadband access nationally, regionally, or in rural areas to improve broadband access to unserved and underserved locations.
“Indeed, the World Bank equally revealed in its 2021 report PPP that the PPP scheme is also helping in key areas of supporting the development of innovative policies, actions, standards and technologies in order to connect the unconnected in any nation, create jobs, enable efficient natural resource utilisation, and electronic waste management. The report also states that Public-Private Partnerships have also serve as organising principles to facilitate product interoperability, reduce the digital and gender divides, and support growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, MSMEs,” he said.
Danbatta also noted the federal government’s commitment to building a safe, swift, and reliable telecommunication in the county through the NCC.
“In Nigeria, the NCC is particularly noted for its faith in strategic collaboration and partnership as a central principle of its stakeholders’ relationship management and regulatory activities. Our daily regulatory processes are marked by consultations with a wide spectra of stakeholders as well as strategic partnering and collaboration with both private sector players and other sister public sector organisations
“Thus, in 2005, the Federal Government established the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, with a clear objective to accelerate investment in national infrastructure through private sector funding; and to assist the Federal Government of Nigeria and its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, to establish and implement effective Public Private Partnerships, PPP, processes. It is gratifying that state governments have also adopted variants of PPP models in order to tackle the challenge of infrastructure in their respective jurisdictions.
“Following the liberalisation of the telecoms sector in 2001, the Commission has continue to facilitate investment inflow into the country’s digital space through licensing of many private sector players, who are deploying services in different segment of the nation’s telecom market. This has resulted in rollout of massive infrastructure ranging from the deployment of Base Transceiver Stations, BTS, and laying of thousands of kilometres of fibre optic cables to every nooks and crannies of the country. Hence, the sector has grown significantly in investment with significant access to an array of voice, data and other kind of enterprises, he said.
According to him, the commission has also continued to enhance existing infrastructure through the licensing of a category of private sector players known as Infrastructure Companies, InfraCo.
He said that the InfraCo are to deploy fibre optic cable on a wholesale basis across the country with broadband Point of Access, PoA, in each of the 774 Local Government Areas of the country. “This InfraCo scheme is running on a PPP arrangement, where the government provides a counterpart fund as a subsidy to stimulate faster, a more robust and resilient broadband infrastructure rollout across the country.”
Danbatta also noted that although broadband penetration in Nigeria has reached 45% at the moment, from less than 6% in 2015, there still exist access gaps which the Commission is making efforts to bridge.
“It is noteworthy that the hitherto existing access gaps of 217 identified in the country have been reduced to 114 through increased collaboration between the Commission and stakeholders in the telecom ecosystem. Hence, the InfraCo project being implemented by NCC and other similar regulatory initiatives which has PPP component are in line with policy expectations of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan, NNBP, 2020-2025; the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, NDEPS, 2020-2030; the NCC Strategic Management Plan, SMP, 2020-2024, as well as a number of regulatory instruments and frameworks which envisioned the PPP model as a central organising principle for fast-tracking the development of Nigeria’s telecoms industry, he said.
Danbatta, who reiterated NCC’s commitment towards encouraging the growth of PPP’s for the overall advancement of telecommunications in Nigeria, also congratulated the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry for its consistency in organising ICTEL despite the challenges imposed by the raging pandemic.
“I cannot over emphasise the appropriateness and relevance of the theme of this forum. I urge you not to rest on your oars and I assure you of our continued collaboration as much as the social and economic realities permit, he added.
“I will like to reiterate that the Commission is committed to continuously engaging relevant stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors, in the country and beyond, in order to ensure that appropriate infrastructure befitting a modern digital economic system is available in the country to deepen government’s determination and commitment to total digital transformation of services in the country.
The virtual conference, which was tagged: ‘Disruptions, Resilience and Governance in Digital Economy’, was organised largely to examine how Public-Private Collaboration, PPC, can be leveraged to develop resilient infrastructure that will advance digital ecosystem and also to reflect on how to effectively implement regulations and policies as well as create an enduring collaboration between the private and public sector for the development of Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
– July 31, 2021 @ 13:58 GMT |
Tags: Adequate functioning infrastructure; bedrock of communal robust societal development - Danbatta
