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Tag: content

  • Content Development Board chief takes stock after 100 days in office 

    The Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is no longer the same. It wears a new look not in physical structure but in managerial reorganisation to meet up with the goals, objectives and mission of the board in line with the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The change in orientations and work ethics of the board were attested to recently by stakeholders who gathered in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, to mark the 100 days in office of the Executive Secretary of the Board, Simbi Wabote.

    Wabote, who hails from Bayelsa State, is indeed, the best man for the job. He was appointed the Executive Secretary by the President on September 26th, 2016, after a long career in the Shell Group of companies in Nigeria and abroad.

    Having spent over 26 years in the oil gas sector in various departments of engineering services, contracting and procurement, local content management, external affairs and community affairs, Wabote, no doubt, gathered enough experience to move the board forward.

    Workers, stakeholders and even some media executives poured encomiums on Wabote for his managerial style and desire to quickly realise the constitutional requirements of the board within 100 days. According to different speakers, Wabote hit the ground running. He gave the board a focus.

    But to the executive secretary, marking the 100 days was only to give him the opportunity of taking stocks to honestly assess where he took off from, where he is and where he would like the board to be in five years.

    Already, he has developed a five-year strategic road map for the board whose major functions are to regulate, monitor and supervise activities of players in the oil and gas sector to ensure participation of indigenous companies in the sector.

    Wabote, who spoke in Yenagoa, said the road map was in line with the Federal Government’s policies captured in the Petroleum Industry Roadmap (PIR) and other change initiatives of the current administration.

    He said the initiative would guide the new wave of Nigerian content development and implementation. He recalled that  President Buhari launched the PIR on the 27th October, 2016 to revitalize the oil and gas industry.

    He said: “A key component of the Petroleum Industry Roadmap is to deploy 30 per cent of business opportunities from operating companies to communities.

    “The board’s community content guideline sets out strategies to realize this target.

    We have also already aligned our capacity development initiatives to support the delivery of the aspirations encapsulated in the Petroleum Industry Roadmap.”

    Wabote said developing the guidelines in line with the PIR was one of the achievements of the board within 100 days.

    “The guideline provides pragmatic steps for incorporating and engaging community contractors as a critical delivery point for Nigerian content development.

    “This guideline was borne out of the necessity to boost peace and security in the Niger-Delta and address the lingering squabbles between host communities and operating and service companies over participation in oil and gas activities.

    “Sections 25, 26, 27 and 28 (1) & (2) of the Nigerian Content Act provides for the operator to maintain a level of presence in communities where projects are located.

    “The sections also mandate participation of community entrepreneurs in activities of operations throughout projects life cycle.”

    One the first thing he did when he assumed office, he said: “When I assumed office I took on the lingering issue of protracted contracting cycle in the industry.

    Wabote expressed happiness that one of the board’s legacy projects, the Polaku Pipemill, would soon take off in Bayelsa. He said the board was about finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Titan Steel, the new investors for the project.

    He said the construction of an access road to the site had exceeded 45 percent, adding that the board had also conducted public hearing on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project as required by law.

    Wabote said the board was also developing an oil and gas parks in Ogbia, Bayelsa State; Oguta in Imo State; Okoyong in Cross Rivers State and Ikwe-Odio in Akwa Ibom.

    He further said the board was planning  to organise a  Nigerian Content Opportunities Fair in March to showcase opportunities in upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.

  • DSTV TO ADD MORE CHANNELS, CONTENT TO BOUQUETS

    BEGINNING from November 1, DStv subscribers will enjoy massive content upgrade on all bouquets. This move follows DStv’s reduction in the prices of its Explora and HD Zapper decoders and airing the world’s best football leagues in sports, new programmes along entertainment, documentaries and other programmes.

    “This major boost in entertainment value across all DStv bouquets demonstrates our commitment to ensuring DStv customers receive great entertainment and best-in-class value,” said John Ugbe, Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria.

    “We are all living in tough economic times – and while the everyday costs of food, water, power and fuel are increasing at an alarming rate, we recognize that there is still a need to take time to escape and relax with the family at home to enjoy quality and entertaining programmes from movies to sports, series, documentaries and a whole lot more.”

    On DStv Premium, three HD channels will be added this month. Also, DStv Premium customers will enjoy pop-up channels like M-Net Movies Blockparty on 109 this month and M-Net Movies Harry Potter channel from November 4 to November 14.

    Also, DStv Compact Plus customers will enjoy new channels like Vuzu AMP, Lifetime, Discovery channel, Crime & Investigation, History channel and Africa Magic Showcase. They will also enjoy more UEFA Champions League matches on SuperSport 6 and SuperSport 4.

    In addition, DStv Compact will get new channels such as SS4, ROK,Eva Plus and B4U Movies, DStv Family gets six additional channels – B4U Movies, Eva, Eva Plus, CBS Reality, SuperSport 4 and FOX.

    Dstv Access will also get four new channels – SS4, BBC World News, B4U Movies and Eva Plus while DStvBoxOffice introduces ‘GREEN’ button which allows subscribers rent selected movies at a discounted price of N286.

  • ‘How rise in dollar rate improves local content’

    ‘How rise in dollar rate improves local content’

    Mojisola Opasanya is the MD/CEO of MO Daises, a T-shirt making and customizing outfit. A former manager with the  Nigerian Breweries, Opasanya speaks with ADEWOYIN ADENIYI about the positive aspects of the rise in the rate of the dollar and other issues. Excerpts:

    How long have you been into printing and design business?

    We just started it last year. In that one year, we have actually worked for a lot of multi-nationals, and right now you know the situation of dollars so people are actually looking at the local content. More productions are happening within the country.

    And not just T-shirts, we also customize anything you want including mugs; we do all manner of printing. Our unique selling point is that we source directly from factories in and out of Nigeria, because for companies, you have to match their phantom colours . You give us what you want and we match your phantom colour, you don’t have to make do with what you don’t want. We can also come up with designs to be unique for you and your company alone so you don’t have to have a general design.

    In what ways is the rise in the rate of dollars affecting your business?

    Well, there are two sides to a coin. The positive side is the fact that people are now looking inward because it is difficult to get T-shirts. People are importing and sometimes it’s very tough to get and when you get, it its expensive. I’m not saying that ours is cheap either but when you get it, it’s expensive, and it might not even suit the colour that you want. It has helped in such a way that it’s bringing more customers. Ordinarily, companies that wouldn’t want to produce in Nigeria are now being forced to go with the option of the local content and these are companies that in the past would tell you, ‘no we don’t want Nigeria; but now they are just left with no option but to produce here in Nigeria.

    But on the other side, there is no market that operates on its own, when you go to the market to buy the things that you need they are also very expensive that’s why I can’t say it’s cheap on the side either because prices of materials keep going up.

    Does that mean you get all your materials in Nigeria?

    I have my contacts in China where I also go for exhibitions, so I can source for materials in China as well as here in Nigeria but you really can’t determine your dollars rate. If I give you a quotation this morning and by the time I go to get things done, dollar might have gone twice higher but you have signed on that so it’s not your business how I get it that’s why people are playing it down on the importation part of things because you can’t afford to be caught in that.

    There is a local company that produces thread in Nigeria but once dollar increases by one naira, they increase by hundred naira, dollar increases by ten naira they increase by five hundred naira. Another thing that has affected us is the gas pipeline explosion that has been going on because they use gas for production and for like two to three months now it was really tough but we thank God now they are using black oil and that also resulted in price increase.

    This is a year down the line and you are doing well in your chosen line of business, what inspired this business? Were you into tailoring before?

    As a Christian, I put God first in everything because that’s the only way, especially when it comes to life decisions. Things like your career and what you do are very important to be brought before God. I was actually a manager in Nigerian Breweries, I resigned and after my resignation I knew I wanted to be on my own not to look for another job and that was why I resigned to start my own even though I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I started with branding.

    After retirement, I got my office and said we are going to start doing this, you will see that this is an industry where we have lots of people so if you don’t have your own unique selling point then you are like the regular jack out there, I wanted a specialization because I believe that everybody should have something they specialize in so when a very big garment company that was operating in Nigeria folded up last year I was fortunate to have visited their factory like two weeks before that time and I saw the factory. I was impressed , up until that time, I had never thought about it because that came at a time I was praying and asking God for something that I would specialize on not just a general thing and my spirit confirmed it immediately. Two weeks after, I was somewhere and I was informed that that company has folded up.

    Aside work, as a CEO, do you ever get time to relax?

    I’m an indoor person, but I love going to movies a lot.

  • Uganda seeks NCDMB’s local content model

    A delegation from the Republic of Uganda has visited the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in its quest to model the development of Uganda’s local content policies after the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, considered to have achieved immense benefits for the Nigerian economy.

    The 20-man delegation was led by the Director of Petroleum in the Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Mr. Ernest Rubondo and the Counselor, Ugandan High Commission in Nigeria, Mr. Nurh Byarufu. Other members  included regulators, bankers, oil industry executives among others and they sought strategies for local vendor development, capacity building of their citizens to meet industry standards, ensuring compliance by operating and service companies, transparent bidding process among other subjects.

    In his remarks, Rubondo said the East African country was at the cusp of investing $20billion in the development of 15 oil fields, construction of a refinery and an export pipe line- projects, expected to be completed within five years.

    According to him, the leadership of the country were determined to retain a substantial part of the $20 billion spent within the country, hence their mission to share Nigeria’s experience in local content which would help their country succeed in that regard.

    Welcoming the delegation, the Acting Executive Secretary, Mr. Daziba Patrick Obah commended the Ugandan Government for identifying Nigeria as a shining example in the implementation of local content, noting that other African countries such as Kenya and Congo Brazzaville had also sought Nigeria’s mentorship of their local content initiatives.

    He also extolled the Ugandan officials for deciding to institutionalise local content at the onset of their oil and gas industry as it would guarantee tangible benefits for their citizens aside the revenue that would accrue from the sale of crude oil and gas.

    He said Nigerian Content has helped the government and the Nigerian people to reverse the flight of industry to foreign countries in the form of personnel, materials, equipment, fabrication and engineering designs. The Executive Secretary further said Nigerian government was the driving force behind the implementation process, stressing that strong political will was necessary to overcome powerful forces opposed to the implementation of local content.

    He advised the Ugandans to develop robust regulations  applicable to the state of their industry and technological base while encouraging collaboration with local and international stakeholders to domicile capacity in-country.

    Manager, Strategy and Policy Development Division (SPDD), Mr. Abdulmalik Halilu, said the percentage of Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry had increased from less than five per cent before 2010 to 14 per cent in 2014 and 35 per cent in 2015. He added that the Board’s interventions were expected to increase local content levels to 50 per cent by 2017.

    According to him, contracts awarded by operating companies to Nigerian service companies had also increased from about 40 per cent of total contracts before 2010 to 75 per cent in 2015, while the target was to achieve 85 per cent by 2017.

  • Practical Nigerian Content forum holds October

    The fifth Practical Nigerian Content Forum has been scheduled to hold from 20 – 22 October in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    The Forum is an annual event organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board. The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr. Denzil Amagbe Kentebe, will be meeting with government and industry stakeholders at the event, where he will recap the progress made in Nigerian Content and discuss ways forward for Nigerian Content amidst volatile oil prices, high operational cost and increasing global competition.

    “This year, Practical Nigerian Content will once again gather an excellent speaker line up that represents the entire industry value chain to showcase Nigerian Content successes to date, outline the current challenges faced in compliance and discuss the outlook for the future. I look forward to welcoming all stakeholders across the oil and gas industry for what will be a very productive and enjoyable meeting,” Kentebe said.

    Confirmed speakers at the Forum include the Chairman, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) Emeka Ene; Chairman, Oil Producers’ Trade Section, Elisabeth Proust; Executive Secretary Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Olufemi Ajayi; Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Denzil Amagbe Kentebe; Chairman, Petroleum Contractors’ Trade Section, Andrew Olotu; Chief Executive Officer, GE Oil & Gas, Lazarus Angbazo; General Manager – Nigerian Content Development, Shell, Chiedu Oba; and Asset Manager & Coordinator, Statoil, Victor Ogwuda.

  • Protecting local content

    •Is Agip riding roughshod over an indigenous oil firm?

    Oil industry experts seem to believe that one major reason the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has not seen the light of day is because of the overarching influence the International Oil Companies (IOCs) have over Nigeria’s oil sector. These giant firms include Shell Petroleum Development Company, (SPDC), Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, (Agip).

    These oil majors that have operated in the country since pre-independence sometimes wield such powers and influence that are overwhelming even among government circles. At a point in Nigeria’s history, the leading ones among them were said to have their own police and quasi-army. In fact they did not only have the capacity to critically influence the course of government, they could actually effect a change in government.

    While this may have been possible in the  military era, so much have changed in the polity now. Notwithstanding, occasional muscle-flexing and power shows still go on. Perhaps this undergirds the long-running tiff between one of the majors, Agip and an indigenous oil service firm, Arco Petrochemical Engineering Company Plc., (Arco).

    According to reports, Agip, an oil giant, may be dealing unfairly with a small indigenous oil service firm for the following reasons: One, Agip which has Italian origin, is accused of unilaterally revoking its service contract with Arco, and awarding same to another oil service firm of Italian origin, not minding the requirements of the local content laws. Two, Agip is said to have repudiated a court injunction that status quo ante be maintained in the matter between the two firms. And three, Agip is alleged to have taken advantage of the crises in Nigeria’s petroleum industry to trample upon Arco and deny it of a legitimate business proposition.

    As the story goes, in 2006,  Agip signed a maintenance contract with Arco which had Nuovo Pignone as its foreign technical partner. It was a five-year contract which lapsed in 2011.  The contract was for the maintenance of Agip’s Obob/Kwale/Ebocha Gas Plant. This is a strategic plant that supplies gas to the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG); Eleme Petrochemicals and Omoku Power Plant. Arco had also carried out an interim contract up till 2013; six months of which it handled alone without foreign partners because the Niger Delta areas were too hot for expatriates at that point.

    All these contracts were approved by the board of the joint venture partner, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS). However, when time came to award another five-year contract, Arco was literally bypassed and the job was unilaterally handed to an Italian oil service firm based in Nigeria, Plantgeria.

    The NNPC board was supposed to approve all such contracts but because it did not meet for quite a while, Agip acted unilaterally. Though the oil major averred that it offered the job to the firm with the most cost-effective bid, Plantgeria, having quoted $10 million against $37 million for which Arco had done the job all these years.

    But Arco insists that Agip was being clever by half and economical with the truth. It stated that it is not possible to deliver the sort of maintenance job it does for the sum Plantgeria has bid; besides, the low bid must be a ploy to remove Arco from the picture only to increase the contract sum down the line. It also noted that the offshore component of the job handled by its new technical partner, GE had been extracted from the contract. In other words, the contract had been split.

    To buttress the point that it has been hard done by, Arco says that both Plantgeria and GE are now poaching its staff.

    We will urge Agip to endeavour to be sensitive to the local content laws and requirements of the country. And since the matter is in court, we urge both parties to return to status quo as requested by the court.

  • Nigerian Content good for IOCs, others, says NCDMB

    The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Denzil Kentebe, has said the successful implementation of Nigerian Content is good to all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, including the international oil companies (IOCs).

    He spoke when the General Managers of Nigerian Content departments of IOCs paid him a courtesy visit at his office in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

    He said the Nigerian Content Act was well implemented, adding that the Board and the operators see themselves as parttners in progress. The Board decided from its inception in 2010 to collaborate with the IOCs, other operators and stakeholders in the service industry, he said, adding that the model had proven very effective in stimulating compliance with the provisions of the Act.

    According to NCDMB’s Media Relations Supervisor, Public Affairs Division, Obinna Ezeobi, the Content Board chief said the developmental role of the Board was critical and it involved collaboration with stakeholders to develop in-country’s capabilities, which make it possible to execute most industry projects hitherto taken abroad before the advent of the Act.

    He praised the operating companies’ partnership with the Board over the years, and their support to the development of local capacity through various initiatives.

    Kentebe charged the companies not to rest on their oars, considering that he is new on the job and needs their contributions.

    He assured the General Managers that the Board would work with them to find solutions to the problems their various companies might have with the Nigerian Content.

    The General Manager, Nigerian Content, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), Mrs. Callista Azogu underscored the IOCs’ commitment to the Nigerian Content development, which she said began before the enactment of the Act in April 2010.

    Azogu, also chairperson of the group, admitted that the operators had challenges complying with some provisions of the Nigerian Content Act, noting that such problems were resolved with the Board to the benefit of all stakeholders.

    The General Manager, Nigerian Content Department, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Raymond Wilcox, said their group and the Board had the same objectives, which include drive to increase the participation of Nigerians and utilisation of indigenous assets and facilities in the oil and gas industry, retain a greater part of the industry spend in-country and transform the economy.

    He said the Nigerian Content had taken root in the operating companies and members of their group were the vanguards of that philosophy in their organisations.

  • Nigerian Content Fund to hit $700m

    Succour is coming for players in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, as the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) meant to assist Nigerian operating firms’credit needs rises to about $700 million.

    The Fund is intended to address  financial and liquidity challenges of  Nigerian companies by offering partial guarantee on bank loans and 50 per cent interest rebate on performing bank loans under the partial guarantee scheme.

    The Fund, estimated to be just above $540 million at the end of April, it was learnt, is growing gradually and would likely hit  its projected target of $700 million by the end of the year.

    A source at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) told The Nation that the Fund’s growth is impressive as it was started with only $50 million in 2010. “The projected growth chart was that by 2011, it would rise to $70 million and $150 million by 2012 and to $350 million by 2013, while we were looking at $450 million and $700 million by end of 2014 and 2015 respectively. But you know that these targets were mere aspirations and the expectation was that if we would be able to achieve 70-80 per cent of these targets, it would be gratifying results,” he said, adding: “But fortunately the Fund has been growing beyond expectation and may attain the planned target of $700 million by year end.”

    The source continued: “Considering the current growth potentials of the Fund, we expect a continuous increase in its size and capacity to attract other sources of funds both locally and internationally to support Nigerian oil and gas content development,” he said.

    The  Fund, according to the source, could have helped a lot of Nigerian firms, but for the challenges encountered in its formative year, adding that banks willing to lend under the programme inserted few terms and conditions that could not be met by the emerging/growing Nigerian companies.

    This resulted in consistent delays in concluding transactions and often stalled some applications. Some bankers demonstrated limited understanding of oil and gas business and the peculiarities of the sector. The limited understanding also resulted in delays in concluding credit packages and structure.

    “On the part of Nigerian companies, some challenges identified then were their inability to package and collate transaction documents for bankable deals, low response time to bank requests during credit processing, and lack of verifiable cash flows to support and sustain repayments,” the source added.

    To ensure that the Fund is not depleted, three levels of custodian monitor remittances – fund managers such as BGL/UBA global, other commercial banks participating in the programme, and Industry Advisory Committee & special purpose vehicle (SPV), are on ground to strengthen governance.

    According to the source, the NCDF was established by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act (NOGIC Act), 2010 to address financial and liquidity challenges of the Nigerian companies that operate within the Nigeria oil and gas industry. The Fund is built through the deduction of one per cent from every contract awarded to any operator, contractor, subcontractor, alliance partner or any other entity involved in any project, operation, activity or transaction in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. It is deducted at source by contract awarding entities and remitted into the Fund’s designated accounts, which are kept with Custodian Banks including BGL/UBA global and other participating commercial banks under the programme.

    The Fund is structured in such a way that 30 per cent goes for direct intervention in the beneficiary company’s operation. It is meant to identify areas with gaps and plug loopholes through trainings, technical support such as research, studies and possible temporary acquisition of stake, and  critical intervention in infrastructure development, among others.

    The other 70 per cent is for commercial intervention of which 30 per cent  is set aside as partial guarantee on bank loans to local operators in order to grow local capacity and give 50 per cent interest rebate on performing bank loans under the partial guarantee scheme.

    To benefit from the Fund, the Nigerian oil and gas company approaches its bank to discuss funding needs; backed up with a loan application and must notify NCDMB and/or its accredited financial advisers on the engagement with the bank to facilitate appropriate follow-up. If successful, the lending bank submits executed offer and loan facility agreement to NCDMB or its accredited agent. NCDMB reviews the Loan facility agreement for compliance and notifies lending bank of any approval, rejection, or suspension pending submission of additional information on the application.

    Where the application is suspended, the approval period will start to run from the date the required information is re-submitted. If approved, the NCDF will issue the Partial Guarantee Agreement to be executed between the bank and the Fund. But the company must be duly registered under the Companies and Allied Matter Act (CAMA) of 1990, and registered with the Nigeria Joint Qualification System (NJQS). The company also must be carrying out businesses within the oil and gas industry upstream value chain and must scale through their bank’s minimum credit appraisal test, which will facilitate the Bank asking for the NCDF Guarantee Appointment of independent advisers to provide financial advisory assistance for the Fund’s implementation.

  • Association urges NASS to pass local content bill

    Association urges NASS to pass local content bill

    The Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association (CCESSA) has called on the National Assembly (NASS) to take all the necessary steps to fast tract the deliberations on the Local Content Bill to ensure that the policy is established as a Local Content Act in the construction industry

    CCESSA’s National President, Comrade (Dr.) Augustine Etafo made the declaration in Lagos while interacting with newsmen on the dangers of government refusal to intervene in the challenges facing construction workers in the country

    He said: “We call on the NASS to take all the necessary steps to fast track the deliberations on the local content bill to ensure that the policy is established as a local content act in the construction industry to save the industry from collapse”

    “We also call on the federal, state and local governments to start as a matter of urgency, to address the unemployment needs of the youths”.

    According to Etafo, the association has specifically looked at youth unemployment, high level of corruption that create a wide gap between the rich and the poor, and poor infrastructural facilities as some of the key challenges which the government must pay attention to in order to address the security challenges in the country.

    While identifying policies that would help to boost the level of economic activities in the construction sector as well as necessary changes to be effected to ensure job creation and also minimize brain drain in the industry, he called on the three tiers of government to intensity effort in the creation of job for the teeming youths who are graduating from the higher institutions on yearly basis.

  • ComTech minister sees local content driving internet

    ComTech minister sees local content driving internet

    Communication Technology Minister, Dr Omobola Johnson, has identified local content as the future driver of internet penetration in the country, adding that over-reliance on YouTube and other such channels will not do the magic.

    Speaking as a panelist at the Ericson and Alliance for Affordable Internet (a4ai), programme at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, she said: “What will drive the internet is relevant, local content. The most visited sites in Nigeria are the job and the news sites, not social media.”

    The minister’s position  contrasted with that of other panel members gathered from across the world that saw the social network channels as doing magic.

    Executive Director, a4ai, Sonia Jorge, in her presentation said Nigeria’s improved performance was buoyed by a strong leadership and regulation of the industry, robust broadband strategy, effective competition in the telecoms sector, efficient spectrum allocation, universal access to rural and underserved population, and infrastructure sharing, among others.

    Dr Johnson said the decision of the Nigerian government to create the Communication Technology Ministry underscored the importance attached to ICT as critical to economic growth and job creation.

    In the report of the research, Jorge explained: “Nigeria comes second in the Affordability Index’s ranking of developing economies – scoring higher than other African developing economies such as Kenya, Morocco and Uganda, and higher even than some emerging economies, including Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Tunisia. The backbone infrastructure in Nigeria has improved significantly over the last decade, with multiple players, including Phase 3, Glo 1, Suburban Telecom, Multilink and MTN, building fibre networks that crisscross the country. Nigeria’s regulator, the Nigerian Communication Commission, plans to award seven licenses to regional infrastructure companies to extend broadband infrastructure nationally. The first two of these were awarded early in the year to MainOne and HIS Communications to provide services in Lagos and Northcentral states.