Ndukwe Beckons Global Investments for Nigeria’s Broadband

Ernest Ndukwe, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has extended Nigeria’s invitation to the international investment community, in respect of the huge broadband infrastructure deployment and services opportunities in the country and the continued rise in demand for telecom services.
Ndukwe who spoke at the World Telecommunications Policy Forum (WTPF) hosted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Lisbon, Portugal, also attributed the huge success in the current funding of the telecoms and ICT sector in Nigeria to the consolidation programme of the banking sector which has equipped the nation’s banks with the wherewithal to match the financial needs of the industry.
According to him, “the recent Nigerian banking consolidation had resulted in the emergence of large strong national banks with large portfolios, who have become the local financiers of the ICT industry in Nigeria.” 
The forum was preceded by a session titled ‘Strategic Dialogue on ICTs’ with the theme: “Confronting the Crisis,” which brought together leaders from government and the industry to address the problems facing vendors, operators and governments in the face of the ongoing global crisis with an objective of formulating proactive strategies to help the ICT industry weather the storm, while leveraging the power of ICT to accelerate economic recovery in other sectors. 
Dr. Hammadoun Toure, secretary general of ITU, in his opening remark reiterated the need for frank and divergent discussions, which are essential for the development of appropriate strategies that would lead to the recovery.
In a session moderated by Mr. Stephen Cole, Al Jazeera anchorman, who described Ndukwe and his Commission as one of the best telecom regulators in the world, sought to know how the global economic meltdown has particularly affected Nigeria’s fortune in the sector over the period.
Ndukwe in his response noted that Nigeria is an integral member of the global economy and that some portions of the Nigerian ICT industry are funded by overseas investors. He said given this scenario, the attendant repatriation of funds by foreign investors has had some negative impact on the smaller companies who are less able to attract foreign investments.
The NCC boss said notwithstanding this situation, the Nigerian consumers have continued to demand for more services while uptake of ICT services has resulted in huge growth in the number of subscribers, which has in turn created the need for more investments, especially in the area of broadband and Internet services.
Ndukwe who was the only participant from the developing countries in the session spotted the various divergences in the economic crisis, noting that the global economic meltdown is truly global and demanded a global effort to deal with the effects that the crisis is having on nation states. 
In another session chaired by Mr. Michael Copps, acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of USA, the panel recommended the need for a Marshal Plan for broadband expansion across all nations as one of the strategies to ameliorate the impact of the global economic meltdown - a position which tallies with the Federal Government of Nigeria through the NCC’s State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (Sabi) and the Wire Nigeria (Win) projects focused on stimulating the spread of broadband and Internet services across the country by building fibre optic cable infrastructure in all the state capitals and commercial centres, including  the provision of subsidies for the private sector to contribute.
Copps related how the Obama administration has demanded the FCC to develop a new national broadband plan as a key element for the US’ economic recovery.
The recommendations of the various panels at the forum have indicated that broadband has become a new frontier to weather the storm of the global economic meltdown.