A new report of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), has ranked
Nigeria very high at 71 per cent, in comparative legal, policy and governance
frameworks towards G5 – advanced state of readiness for digital transformation
known as G5 with Germany, Finland and Singapore leading the global chart.
In the report conducted by the ITU, the United Kingdom’s Foreign,
Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and unveiled by Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani in Abuja on Monday, Nigeria was ranked among Africa’s top seven BEMECS 5G Readiness
Index, which represents the country’s readiness to deploy and adopt mass-market
5G networks.
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
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 Nigerian Communications Commission, 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.