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.
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.”
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