TheCable

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the telecommunications industry is one of the sectors that helped the economy exit recession in the fourth quarter of 2020.

In a statement released on Monday, the NCC said the telecoms industry contributed 12.45 percent to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Nigeria’s economy exited recession with 0.11 percent in Q4 2020.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the telecommunications and information services grew by 17.64 percent in Q4 2020 from 17.36 percent in Q3 2020 and 10.26 percent in Q4 2019.

“The telecommunications sector has, in the last five years, been a major driver of the digital economy agenda of the federal government, as it has continued to provide the needed digital sinews that support the economy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant restriction period,” the statement signed by Ikechukwu Adinde, the NCC director of public affairs, read.

“The steady growth of the telecoms sector over the years with its pervasive positive impact on all other sectors of the economy in terms of increased automation of processes and digital transformation in service delivery has been remarkable.

“The growth trend since 2015 has reawakened hope that the economic diversification dreams of the country may finally be a reality as the sector continues to energize significant economic activities in the services sector of the economy.”

The commission said telecoms investment grew from $38 billion in 2015 to the current $70 billion while broadband penetration increased from six percent in 2015 to 45.02 percent as of December 2020.

NCC said it is committed to its culture of quality regulation of the telecommunications industry to ensure a robust sector that drives the digital economy agenda of the federal government.