Telecom
Nigeria’s ICT Sector Needs Restructuring- ATCON
The structure of Nigeria’s telecommunications and ICT sector is not really beneficial to Nigeria as a country in terms of foreign exchange earnings because most of the inputs in the sector are imported from the developed countries and very little value-add exported.
Mr. Olusola Teniola, president of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), made the remarks recently during a presentation at IT and Telecoms Summit held in Lagos, saying that local content in ICT entails the nation must cautiously devise a means of producing some of those inputs locally and creating more value add and innovations.
“If we really want to pursue Nigerian Local Content development vigorously as a nation with the intention of increasing its impact on our revenue,” Teniola said “we must devise a means of producing some of those inputs locally and creating more value add and innovation on the remaining that we cannot manufacture locally”.
He said that the liberalization of the sector has attracted circa USD$68bn or more of investments to the country to date.
However, the ATCON President opined that the Office of the Nigeria Local Content (ONC) under NITDA still needs to create the opportunities for Nigeria’s ICT to develop solutions tailored to the country’s citizens’ needs and then develop the local skills to monetize the youth talent that is latent in producing value-added ICT products and services that can be exported to other parts of Africa and the Rest of the World.
“The ICT industry is further challenged to reduce or eradicate the continuous unemployment of the Nigerian youth (both skilled and unskilled) as a matter of utmost urgency and there is a need to work out a collaborative agreement with the aim of transferring some of India’s technical know-how to Nigerians and we pray that all relevant government agencies in Nigeria will support this initiative as it would certainly accelerate as well as give a boost to our local productive capacity.
Teniola while dovetailing into the Nigeria-India ICT business relationship enumerated some of the resultant effects of such collaboration as would foster Nigerian local content through “Low(er) rate of unemployment – This strategic collaboration can reduce the number of Nigerians who are unemployed as this would make them to have the required and needed knowledge to be gainfully employed in the telecom and ICT sector.
“Reduce dependence on expatriate – If we stop playing ‘lip service’ to local content drive in the telecom and ICT sector, this strategic collaboration with India would give Nigerians the opportunity to take part in dispensing critical skills and knowledge over the next decades
“Decrease cost of production – the effective pursuance of local content would ultimately result in reduction in the cost of production because there would be less dependency on international currencies as the majority of services rendered would be our local currency (in Naira)”.
He also highlighted that the success of Local Content drive in the Telecom and ICT in Nigeria would accelerate the progress of the sector.
Lynda Saint-Nwafor, chief Enterprise business officer, MTN Nigeria, has assured the network subscribers that the new end-user billing system for the use of USSD services will jot affect them.
USSD, otherwise Unstructured Supplementary Service Data codes are commonly used for banking transactions, airtime recharges, and other mobile services.
The telco said that there is no significant impact or change other than the fact that they will now pay the same N6.98 per session (120 seconds) with their airtime instead of direct bank debit.
Saint-Nwafor, said this during a chat with MTN MIP fellows, explaining that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have ordered telecom operators to ensure that the new billing model resolves trust issues and ensures transparency in the billing process.
“Our regulator insisted that at the end of every month, we are going to be providing history and statistics on the performance of the service across the board”, she explained.
Saint-Nwafor added that the new billing model has standardized messaging across all operators and ensures consistent communication with customers.
“We will take all the error codes and map them into messages that are standardised across the board. So, if you initiate a transaction, you will know if it is failing. And, when the transaction fails, you will know if it is from your bank or the telco,” she explained.
The U.S. government has recovered $225 million in what is now the largest seizure of funds linked to a cryptocurrency investment scam.
In a statement released Wednesday, June 18, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the recovery followed an extensive investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, using blockchain analysis and other forensic tools. The statement did not confirm whether any arrests had been made.
According to the authorities, the stolen funds originated from fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes that tricked victims into believing they were making legitimate investments. More than 400 individuals around the world, including dozens in the United States, were reportedly affected.
The operation involved a sophisticated money laundering network that carried out hundreds of thousands of blockchain transactions to obscure the source and ownership of the stolen assets.
“These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship for the victims,” said Shawn Bradstreet, Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Secret Service office in San Francisco.
Bradstreet added that U.S. officials hope the recovered funds can eventually be returned to the rightful victims.
Cryptocurrency investment fraud accounted for over $5.8 billion in reported losses in 2024 alone, according to the statement.
In a rousing declaration that is electrifying minds across the continent, Hon. Nnaemeka Ani, Special Adviser on ICT to Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has called for a homegrown digital revolution under the banner “Africa Will Rise: By Code, By Courage, By Us.”
Hon. Nnaemeka Ani
The message, part challenge, part philosophical—seeks to galvanize African innovators to move beyond buzzwords and build technology with impact and legacy in mind.
“Let’s stop building for hype. Let’s start building for legacy,” Ani urged while speaking to ICT journalists over the weekend. “Let’s stop waiting for someone else. Let’s start creating the future—on our own terms.”
At the heart of Ani’s vision is a shift from tech consumerism to tech authorship. With innovation hubs sprouting across cities like Enugu, Lagos, Kigali, Jo’Burg, and Nairobi, and a growing community of developers, engineers, and entrepreneurs determined to solve Africa’s unique challenges, the movement is already taking shape.
Ani emphasized that Africa’s future lies not in flashy apps or international admiration but in persistent, intentional solutions that uplift communities—solutions that digitize public services, bridge rural-urban divides, empower women and youth, and build resilience in food and climate systems.
“We have the talent,” he said. “Now it’s time to harness it—to stop building for likes and start building for lasting impact.”
With support from leaders like Ani and rising momentum in Africa’s tech corridors, it seems that a new chapter is being written—one line of code at a time.
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