NCC Harps on Infrastructure Development for Economic Growth

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission, (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Dambatta has pointed out economic development in Nigeria can only be accelerated by developing critical infrastructure in the country.

Danbatta, who made the disclosure during the Business Journal 10th Anniversary Lecture and Award held in Lagos recently.

He noted that the liberalisation and deregulation in the telecom sector placed Nigeria in a position to increase its infrastructure and its contribution to GDP. The theme of the event was: “Infrastructure and Economic Growth: Exploring the Strategic Alliance.”

Danbatta, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Technical Standards at NCC, Mr. Edoyemi Ogo, said telecommunication remained an infrastructure industry that contributes to all economic growth drivers in one way or the other.

“With the advancement in telecommunication technology, the world has experienced a rapid growth in communications.

“Telecommunication sector development has acted as a catalyst to drive growth and efficiencies in many other sectors. Telecommunication infrastructure has a direct and indirect positive effect on economic growth.

“This effect can be seen in the economic growth indicators which include real GDP, industrial production, employment, price stability, education, technology and innovation,” Danbatta said.

He added that the World Bank had found out that a 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration in developing countries results in a commensurable increase of 1.38 per cent in GDP.

Danbatta also said the telecom sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP, increased from less than one per cent in 2001, to about 8.66 percent in December 2017.

The Chairman Open Media Group, Mr. Ernest Ndukwe said infrastructure remained the biggest problem in Africa.

According to him, power remained very critical to the development of the telecommunication industry and therefore urged the government to build enough infrastructure that would boot electricity supply in the country.

“Many small scale industries would have done very well but because of inadequate power supply, most of them are dead.