The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the telecom industry has been able to contribute massively to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as a result of effective regulations, driven by various legal instruments.
Principal Manager, Legal and Regulatory Services at NCC, Mr. Ibe Ngwoke stated this while making a presentation at the ‘Meet the Regulator Forum’ organised by the Commission for lawyers and law school students at the Nigerian Law School (NLS), Abuja Campus recently.
According to Ngwoke, in the last quarter of 2019, the digital economy fetched Nigeria 13.1 percent (about N2.6 trillion) of the country’s GDP, as against oil and gas, which contributed 11.32 percent in the same period.
“With the recently unveiled National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in November 2019 by the Federal Government, and giving other extant necessary legal instruments, the contribution from the entire ICT industry is going to improve significantly,” he assured.
The ‘Meet the Regulator Forum’ for lawyers and law school students is part of NCC’s effort to sustain the contribution of telecommunications and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to Nigeria’s economic growth.
The Commission has also said the country needed more lawyers with specialisation in telecoms laws and regulations to sustain the industry growth. Yetunde Akinloye, Director, Legal and Regulatory Services at NCC, who made the call at the forum, noted that the Nigerian telecoms industry is principally governed by the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, which empowers the Commission, as an independent telecoms regulatory authority, to, among others, regulate stakeholders in the sector and implement government’s policy on communications.
Akinloye said the Commission has also been using the Act to protect and promote consumer interests and grant licences to operators, and she also stated that the Act empowers NCC to manage scarce resources such as spectrum and numbering plan, to investigate and resolve disputes in the industry, and to develop and enforce regulations and guidelines in the general interest of the consumers.
She averred that the exercise of the Commission’s powers as enshrined in the Act has helped the NCC to bring about digital transformation in the country with an impressive contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and to trigger positive multipliers effects on all other sectors of the economy.
According to the NCC Director of Legal and Regulatory Services, “we have recognised the role of lawyers in telecoms regulations and laws. This is why we have put in place this forum to create a meeting point between NCC as a regulator and legal practitioners. We are here to sensitise you to NCC’s activities from legal perspective, knowing full well that you have a role to play in the further development of the sector.”
“More legal practitioners are needed in the country with specialisation in telecoms-related laws in our quest to continue to boost our regulatory frameworks for the continued growth of the telecommunications sector,” she said.