According to Prof. Umar Danbatta, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, the telecommunications industry supports 500,000 employment.
In addition, he said 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 Cyber chain Abuja, 2022, he revealed this. “The telecommunications industry has recorded over $70 billion in investment to date; surpassing the $500 million invested in the sector as of 2001, while the growth in the sector has been phenomenal, from roughly 400,000 functional phone lines in 2001 to over 209 million active mobile subscriptions, achieving a tele density of 110 percent,” he said.
“Over 500,000 Nigerians now work in the industry, in both official and informal settings. The information and communications technology industry as a whole has also contributed 18.44 percent to GDP as of the second quarter of 2022, up from the telecommunications sector’s negligible contribution to GDP in the final quarter of 2021.”
Despite the progress the commission has accomplished, Danbatta claims that it will continue to promote cutting-edge technology in order to revitalize the economy of the country.