Capital Inflow through of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the telecoms industry has slumped by 55.7 per cent, it was gathered at the weekend.
According to the regulator of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in 2020, FDI into the sector was $417.5million ($417,481,615.30) against $942.9million ($942, 863,833.96) it was in 2019.
Last year, FDI remained at $417,481,615.30 against $942, 863,833.96 as at the year before.
The NCC, which quoted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as its source, said this translates to a decline of 55.7per cent in capital importation yearly. The decline in capital import was largely attributed by the operators to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that distorted global businesses and impacted businesses negatively.
Giving breakdown of prepaid and postpaid mobile voice subscriptions last year, NCC said the total prepaid mobile voice subscriptions decreased from 199,043,508 in December 2020 to 189,509,350 in December 2021 indicating a decline of 9.02per cent in prepaid mobile voice subscriptions.
It said postpaid mobile voice subscriptions increased from 5,450,774 in December 2020 to 5,848,163 as at last December, indicating an increase of 7.3 per cent growth in postpaid mobile voice subscriptions as at year end 2021.
In summary, the above analysis indicates that about 97per cent of mobile subscribers are prepaid subscribers while only about three per cent are postpaid.
The Southwest and Northwest zones recorded the highest number of subscriptions while the Northeast zone recorded the least number of subscriptions due to the continuous insecurity situation experienced in the zone.
NCC said 28 per cent of the active subscription is in the Southwest zone, while the Northeast has the least percentage of active voice subscription of 10 per cent.