A dire warning has been sounded regarding the growing skills gap in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector, which poses a significant threat to the industry’s future. Mr. Omobayo Azeez, a telecoms policy analyst and convener of the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo), highlighted this concern during a keynote presentation at the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE 2023). He emphasized that the sector needs professionals skilled in areas such as cybersecurity, data analytics, software development, and more, which are currently in short supply.
Azeez noted that this skills gap hinders telecom companies from expanding, innovating, improving customer service, and developing new products. He expressed particular concern about the sector’s workforce dwindling while it experiences rapid growth. He also pointed out that high-income economies are actively recruiting skilled telecom workers from Nigeria, exacerbating the problem. In 2022 alone, over 2,000 trained telecom personnel left Nigeria for other countries, leaving a significant gap in expertise.
This shortage of skilled workers has hampered recruitment in the sector, with only 679 new workers hired by operators in the last three years. The rapid advancement of technologies like 5G, Edge infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT), and smart city initiatives demands a workforce capable of innovation and professional tasks to achieve the sector’s future goals.
