The Chief Executive Officer of Medallion Communications Limited, Mr. Ikechukwu Nnamani has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to channel 30 percent of the N15trn consortium it announced recently to boost infrastructure development in Nigeria to build telecom infrastructure.
Nnamani, who as speaking today at the Sectoral Virtual Forum 2020, organized by the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), argued that it would be unfair for the apex bank to concentrate the N15trillion into building transportation infrastructure, leaving the telecom sector, which is presently contributing 10.88 percent to the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He noted that for the country working towards having a digital economy, operators in the telecom industry must get the right mix of funding to build telecom infrastructure that the economy can ride on.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to establish an N15 trillion infrastructure development company. I expected that 30 percent of that money to be channeled into building telecom infrastructure. Concentrating everything into building the transport infrastructure would be unfair to the 196 million telecom subscribers, who are always advocating for good quality service but could not get most of the time because of lack of the required infrastructure,” Nnamani, who is also the 1st Vice President of ATCON said.
He added that if 30 percent of the money is channeled into the telecom industry, it will give operators the opportunity to massively deploy infrastructure across the country and ultimately, aid the digital economy being championed by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele had recently announced plans to establish an N15 trillion infrastructure development company, which he said will be used to fund the rebuilding of critical infrastructure across the country for an initial period of five years.
Specifically, the Governor noted that the funding will be mobilized to support the federal government in building the transport infrastructure required to move agriculture and other products to processors, raw materials to factories, and finished goods to markets.
