Vice President Namadi Sambo

Emma Okonji
Vice President Namadi Sambo has commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on its investment drive in the telecoms sector and called for further investment in the Nigerian telecoms sector.

Sambo, who made the call during the recently concluded International Telecommunications Union Telecoms conference (ITU Telecoms World 2012) in Dubai, UAE, told the global community that Nigeria remained the place to be in terms of investments in telecommunications.

The VP particularly canvassed for investors to Nigeria’s broadband sector whose dearth has become a major concern to the government.

Sambo explained that although the country had experienced monumental growth in voice telephony there was a missing link in broadband as the cost for its acquisition remained very much on the high side.

He, however, commended the regulator, NCC for a job well done so far, and assured the global community that the NCC was about the most independent regulator in Africa and the global arena adding that with a robust regulator and a government that has put in place measures to encourage investors, there would be guarantee on return on investments.

Sambo said that government has put in place measures to cushion harsh investments and to create a safe environment that would guarantee greater interest of investors not only in telecommunications but also in other areas of the economy.

"Mr. President would have liked to have been here to illustrate the level of importance that we attach to this sector. This is a sector that cannot be discussed exclusively; therefore I would like to share with you some of the added values that are being planned for national growth,” he said.

According to him, one of the major issues had been on power supply, but he assured investors of improved power supply in the country, which he said came into reality, since the beginning of the current administration in 2010. He said Nigeria was generating 2,000 mega watts of electricity before 2010, but that today, the country is generating 4,300 mega watts. “We are building 10 new turbine power plants, which are all at an advanced stage of completion and when completed, these 10 plants will add 5,000 mega watts to the national grid,” he said

He added, “We have also reached an advanced stage in the construction of a large hydro power plant known as the Mambilla Power Plant which will add 3,050 mega watts. Also, we will soon start the construction of the Zungeru hydro-power plant that will add an additional 700 mega watts. Furthermore, we are exploring alternative energy sources, and Nigeria has signed an agreement with Siemens that will produce 450 mega watts of solar power in the first year of the project's commencement."

All of these actions are in line with our firm belief that we will achieve our objective of providing adequate power supply to our people and for those who invest in Nigeria. We are also improving in the area of education. This year, nine new universities are being established in Nigeria. We are partnering with state governments to improve on both primary and secondary education while pursuing science education deliberately he added saying "we have also put in place measures that will ensure that there is an institutional framework in place to create an enabling environment for investors which will allow for an investment climate that is of international standard for our foreign investors.”