Tag: NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has identified multiple-taxation as major obstacle militating against sustainable development of telecom industry in the country just as it promised to make transparency the bedrock of its regulatory activities.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, said transparency will enable the industry to build a solid foundation for building a resilient, accountable and efficient institution.

Maida spoke during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani in Abuja while briefing the minister on his activities, vision, and strategy since the assumption office in October 2023.

“Transparency is key. It is by transparency that we can self-regulate even as regulators. And by so doing, we would be putting ourselves on our toes, which in the long run will drive the Commission forward to achieve our goals of operational excellence,” Maida stated.

He commended the minister for leading by example in transparency in his leadership style.

“Minister sir, one of the principles you have shown as a leader is transparency in all your activities and I must say that it is an attribute that has the potential to bring about a transformed industry that is accountable to both the people and the industry players,” he said.

The NCC boss conveyed his appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for finding him worthy of the responsibility to lead a critical sector of the economy.

The EVC told the minister that the visit is a crucial as it gave him the opportunity to share with the minister, his vision and priorities for the Commission. Maida also said that these priorities were in tandem with delivering on the five-Pillars of the Strategic Plan unveiled by the minister.

“I have been on this seat for about six weeks, and it has afforded me the privilege of a bird’s eye view to understand things better, and identify areas that we urgently need to work on. We are currently carrying out an in-depth study and critical review of issues within the industry. One of the areas we are placing priority on is Quality of Experience,” Maida told the Minister.

“At my meeting with industry leaders, we were unambiguous that quality of experience (QoE) will not be negotiable. The Commission will take compliance in this regard seriously, and a standard of what is least acceptable will be set,” Maida stated.

Maida told the minister that another priority area for him is broadband connectivity, which he considers as the biggest enabler of the digital economy and financial inclusion. He noted that these align with the five-pillar agenda of the Ministry.

The NCC CEO also reflected on the need to maximise the potentials of innovations in some technological evolutions such as the 5G revolution in order to create more opportunities within the industry and further boost connectivity.

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He informed the Minister that a review of internal processes at the Commission is ongoing to engender efficiency and responsiveness of the Commission, including the digitization of most of our operations.

 ”Under my leadership, the Commission will give priorities to the improvement of our regulatory activities. With this, we hope to see more investors come into the telecommunications industry in Nigeria, with the attendant creation of vertical businesses and increased Foreign Direct Investments, revenue generation, and employment”, Maida stated.

The EVC also said that “In all these, the goal is for the Commission to achieve optimal operational excellence which underpins the success of all other priority areas that we have set in order to achieve a significant all-round growth of the telecommunications industry”.

Maida equally recalled his visit to the Digital Bridge Institute in Lagos, where he met an institution with vast potentials that would be an asset in driving a knowledge-based economy, in line with the “Knowledge Pillar” of the Strategic Plan unveiled by the minister.

“Consequently, we will be prioritizing the revamp, retooling, and redirection of the Institute towards extracting its optimum value in line with our objectives,” the EVC said.

Dr. Tijani, who warmly welcomed the NCC boss, acknowledged the importance and relevance of the telecom regulator in achieving the nation’s digital aspiration.

 ”The NCC is a stellar agency, and you have my respect for the work that you do. There is no future for the country without the NCC. Already, the quality you have is good; what we need to do now is to tap into this quality to bring about greater value for the country,” Tijani said.

 ”I want to assure you that you have the best partner in me. We will work together to achieve the goals and vision we have set,” the Minister assured the NCC CEO.

Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management at NCC, Adewolu Adeleke, who identified multiple-taxation as a clog on the wheel of the industry, spoke at the Regional Stakeholders Workshop on Multiple Taxation and Regulations, in Kano.

The theme of the conference was: “Navigating the Landscape of Multiple Taxation and Regulations, Fostering Sustainable Growth through Collaboration”.

Represented by Efosa Idehen, Director Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement of the commission, Adeleke said multiple taxation and regulations were impacting on the growth of telecoms infrastructure on which all other infrastructure making up digital economy depended.

“This is not referring to legitimate taxes imposed by appropriate authorities following necessary due processes, but the many irregular, often duplicated and sometimes hastily posed taxes and charges which some agencies pursue for short-term revenue gains neglecting the greater long-term impacts of their actions on investor confidence, the socio-economic wellbeing of our people and overall national economic growth,” he said.

He said some states and local government agencies imposed such taxes and regulations without appropriate legal backing, adding that it affected the industry’s output in general.

“Multiple taxation and regulations imposed on infrastructure maintenance, environmental impact charges, waste collection charges in addition to value added tax and sales tax being paid simultaneously add to the cost of services enjoyed by the consumers,” he said.

He advocated for proactive measures to proffer lasting solution to the problem of multiple taxation and regulations.

“I am, therefore, pleased to note that one of the most pivotal actions taken by President Bola Tinubu, upon assuming office, was the establishment of Presidential Tax Reform Committee.

“We have presented our recommendations to the committee, and we are confident that it will make necessary recommendations to conclusively address the various dimensions of the problem of multiple taxations and regulation.

“In our view, prioritizing comprehensive tax reform will unlock the full potential of the Nigerian economy.

“These reforms should aim to simplify the tax system, eliminate redundancies, and promote transparency.

“Government at all levels must collaborate to create an harmonised tax structure that foster economic growth rather than stifling it,” he said.

The NCC Commissioner stressed the need for speedy deployment of new infrastructure and the seamless operations of existing ones to achieve 90 per cent broadband penetration by 2027 in the country.

“To illustrate, the industry experienced over 35,000 fiber cuts in 2022 and over 24,000 fiber cuts so far in 2023. Similarly, over N14 billion has been spent on repairing damaged fiber.

“In the same vein there has been over 18,000 denial of access cases recorded in 2022 and over 6,000 cases so far in 2023.

“Statistics of this nature cannot encourage anyone to invest. So we all owe it a duty to tackle this menace once and for all.”

Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, has pledged support for law-abiding investors such as Meta (formerly Facebook), which responds positively to Nigeria’s desire for investments that promote the agenda of government to achieve a robust digital economy. 

Maida, who spoke when he received a delegation of Meta, led by the company’s Vice President for Africa, Middle-East and Turkey, Kojo Boakye, when they visited NCC’s headquarters in Abuja, said the regulatory support to all investors, including operators in Nigeria, will be predicated on their playing by the rules and regulations guiding the sector.

He said the Commission places a lot of premium on compliance to industry laws, regulations and guidelines as such will also engender a level-playing field for all licensees and other stakeholders in the industry for sustaining a healthy competition and guaranteeing a sustainable growth in the Nigerian telecoms sector.

Boakye told the NCC boss that the purpose of the visit was to congratulate him on his appointment by the President Bola Tinubu and to intimate him of ongoing efforts to land 2Africa Cable in Nigeria.

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At 45,000 kilometres long, Boakye said the 2Africa submarine cable will be one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects and will interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), Asia (via Saudi Arabia), and Africa. He said the system will go live in 2023, delivering more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables currently serving Africa, with a design capacity of up to 180 terabytes per second (Tbps).

Boakye stated that 2Africa will deliver much-needed internet capacity and reliability across large parts of Africa, supplement the fast-growing capacity demand in the Middle East and underpin further growth of 4G, 5G and fixed broadband access for billions of people, especially in Nigeria.

He solicited NCC’s support in sailing through all necessary legal and regulatory hurdles in landing the submarine cable to complement existing backbone infrastructure in Nigeria. He also said Meta, through a consortium, plans to land 2Africa cable simultaneously in Lagos and Akwa-Ibom States “in order to ensure those not yet connected are connected while those already connected are given opportunity for enhanced and affordable access.”

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said effective application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is critical in combating financial crimes by enabling real-time surveillance, regulatory compliance, and secure data processing, just as it sought a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaborations to address issue of illicit financial flows in the country.

 Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, who was a speaker at the 11th Anniversary Lecture Series of RealNews Magazine in Lagos yesterday, where he was also inducted into the RealNews Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding contribution as Guest of Honour at the event, said robust ICT systems are critical for preventing and investigating financial crimes or mitigating the risks associated with virtual assets in the financial markets.

 Maida, who was represented at the forum by the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, described financial crimes as “criminal activities that involve transactions, abuse, misuse, deception, or manipulation of financial systems for personal gain.” He said the crimes also include a wide range of offenses such as Insider abuse, money laundering, terrorism financing, embezzlement and all kinds of fraud.

He said while financial crimes do not only have a huge economic and social impact but can also be linked to violent crimes that lead to loss of lives, they also threaten the integrity, trustworthiness, stability, security, safety, and future of an entity such as a country, enterprise or an individual.

    Maida told the audience comprising representatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), among other stakeholders, that the scope of financial crimes has broadened and created further concerns as a result of increasing adoption of digital technologies, the emergence of new technologies, and the often-transnational nature of the crimes.

    The Nigeria’s chief telecom regulator said though, as ICT systems get more complex, so do cybercriminal activities, just as criminal actors take advantage of the inherent and emerging flaws identified in the ICT systems exploiting these flaws and causing harm, the same technology has to be positioned to track movement of illicit movement of funds in and out of the country.

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     “Nigeria’s telecoms sector has grown significantly, resulting in massive amounts of data being generated on a daily basis, the advent of advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) provides a gateway to identify suspicious digital patterns indicative of crime.  Through partnerships with financial institutions data can be filtered to identify these suspicious patterns and nip them in the bud. These technologies provide real-time transaction monitoring, allowing for a proactive approach to crime prevention” Maida said.

    Maida further stated that to combat financial crimes, innovative solutions such as blockchain, instant payments, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, regulatory technology solutions, and automated procedures are being deployed, adding that the use of technological tools has made it significantly easier to deal with financial crime while building a long term strategy for combating it.

    Meanwhile, Maida stated that, aside ensuring increased access to telecommunications services, the Commission has established the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT),  a group of experts in the Commission to handles security incidents that can affect the operations of organisations and individuals; incorporated biometric authentication in the use of telecom services and financial transactions on telecom carriers with strict enforcement of compliance by the licensees; as well as enabling digital forensics, among others.

    In addition to the need for public education and understanding of internet safety, which are important in limiting the risks linked with the spread of criminality via technology, Maida emphasized the need for increased collaboration and international cooperation to effectively tackle financial crime. “Also, continued investment in ICT solutions, as well as a multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder strategy, combining technology specialists, legal professionals, and legislators, as a critical approach in keeping up with emerging criminal methods,” he said.