Nigeria has been recognized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as a leader in digital transformation readiness.
A recent report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has placed Nigeria in a commendable position, ranking it 71% in terms of legal, policy, and governance frameworks for the adoption of 5G technology. This advanced state of readiness for digital transformation, known as G5, is led by Germany, Finland, and Singapore.
The report, conducted jointly by the ITU, the United Kingdom’s
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), was unveiled by Nigeria’s Minister of
Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, in Abuja on
Monday. Nigeria’s performance has earned it a spot among Africa’s top seven
BEMECS 5G Readiness Index, indicating the country’s preparedness to deploy and
embrace 5G networks on a large scale.
Titled, Collaborative Regulation: Accelerating Nigeria’s
Digital Transformation, and presented at the Digital Economy Complex, Mbora,
Abuja by ITU’s Kagwira Nkonge, the report, among other things, presented a case
study for ‘collaborative regulation review to assess and support Nigeria’s
transition towards collaborative digital governance, evidence-based policy
making and agile regulation in the digital economy”.
The report, which was presented to a cross section of key
industry stakeholders including service providers, government agencies,
representatives of multilateral institutions, West Africa Telecommunications
Regulators Assembly (WATRA), Africa Telecommunications Union (ATU), among
others, was also designed to complement existing cross-country benchmarks in
which features of countries policy and regulatory environment are assessed.
The features of countries policy and regulatory environment
are assessed according to the pillars of
the Generations of Regulation frameworks which tracks telecom regulatory
maturity towards digital transformation readiness, designated at G5 Advanced
State of Readiness”, and for which Nigeria currently stands at G4.
Advanced State of Readiness is benchmarked against four
critical levels of accomplishments which include national collaborative
governance, policy design principles, digital development toolbox, digital
economic policy agenda, with Nigeria scoring 91 per cent in regulatory
capacity; 82 per cent in Market Rules; 81 per cent in Collaborative Governance;
76 per cent in Legal Instruments for ICT/Telecom markets; 69 per cent in
National Digital Agenda Policy, among other benchmarks.
Dr. Tijani, in his remarks at the event, commended the ITU
and partner agencies and consultants that actualised the report; and expressed
Federal Government’s commitment “to utilise this report as a navigational aid
towards attainment of our regulatory objectives and policies outlines towards
achieving a robust digital economy”.
“That is what we will continue to do as a government,
ensuring that we can put ourselves in a place to have cutting-edge modern
regulations in place to ensure that business is done properly in our sector and
to ensure that, where possible, increase the local content of the sector as
well,” he said.
Dr. Tijani noted that NCC has adapted over the years in
response to how its role and mandate have changed. He explained, “Fifteen, twenty years ago, NCC
was just regulating the telecommunications sector, today, NCC regulates the
foundation for which any economy would be prosperous.”
The Executive vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, who
hosted the presentation, welcomed the indicators that promote effective
regulation, attraction of greater investment, and development of innovative
models for broader digital inclusion.
He emphasised that collaborative regulation would support
Nigeria’s transition towards effective digital governance, evidence-based
policy making and agile regulation in the nation’s digital economy.
The ITU Report can be accessed through the link: