The Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC),says Nigeria lost $10.8bn in the last five years to capital flight in the telecommunications sector amid lingering foreign exchange scarcity in the country.
The agency disclosed this in its National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector.
It added the annual outflow of forex for the sector amounted to about $2.16bn.
It said:“According to available statistics provided by the leadership of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, the annual outflow of foreign exchange for the telecommunications sector amounts to approximately $2.16bn.
“A breakdown of the forex spending is as follows: i. CAPEX programmes – $750m ii. Network software licensing – $250m iii. Management fees – $800m iv. Managed services (Tier 2 and 3 support) – $157m v. Miscellaneous (international circuits, roaming and terminations reconciliations etc.) – $200m.
“The statistics were based on the average annual reports of a sample of industry players in the telecommunications space over a five-year period. This is a significant portion of our average annual budget and it is critical that this trend is reversed.”
Meanwhile,the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC),says it has not renewed Airtel’s Mobile operating licence
Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, Director, Public Affairs, NCC, explained that the application of the renewal of operating licence of Airtel Nigeria is yet to be approved as it is still undergoing required regulatory process.
He said: “The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission has been drawn to a recent statement on an online publication credited to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Office of Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Olusegun Ogunsanya, to the effect that the mobile operating license of Airtel has been renewed by the Commission for another period of ten years.
“Mr. Ogunsanya was said to have made the statement while speaking in Lagos on Wednesday, July 14, 202, during the media launch of Airtel’s corporate social responsibility programme, ‘Touching Lives 6’.
“The Commission wishes to state that while Airtel Nigeria has applied for the renewal of the Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) granted to it by the Commission, the application is yet to be approved as it is still undergoing required regulatory process”.
