Nigeria’s Telecom Sector Records Zero Foreign Direct Investment

Nigeria recorded zero capital importation or Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the telecoms sector, last year, which was 2021, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

In a report in The Nation, according to NCC, in 2020  FDI was $417,481,615.30 against $942, 863,833.96 recorded in the previous year.

This translates to a decline of 55.7 per cent in capital importation yearly.

The decline was largely attributed by the operators to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that distorted global businesses and impacted businesses negatively.

This showed that the industry recorded zero FDI during the whole of last year. While the telecom operators blamed the decline in 2019 on the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, no reason was given for the zero record of FDI for the whole of last year.

Similarly, capital expenditure (CAPEX) or domestic investment stood at N408, 151,627,158.62 in 2020 based on submissions from responsive licensees.

The report said CAPEX investment declined by 18.62 per cent due to probable challenges of the global pandemic in 2020.

Operating cost (OPEX) reported was N1,720,547,371,856.01 as at last December while  CAPEX stood at N1, 124,116,990,000 as at the end of last year based on submissions from licencees.