NIGCOMSAT Woos Customers to Achieve N8bn Sales Target by 2029

Emma Okonji

In order to achieve and surpass its N8 billion target from the sales of satellite bandwidth by 2029, NIGCOMSAT, the government agency responsible for the launch of Nigeria’s NigComSat-1R satellite into orbit, has commenced an awareness drive to win back its old customers.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, NIGCOMSAT Limited, Mrs. Jane Egerton-Idehen, who disclosed this in Lagos during a media chat, said the awareness drive would further help the agency achieve its N8 billion target from sales of bandwidth by 2029.

“When we came onboard two years ago, we set a target to achieve N8 billion by 2029, through the sales of satellite bandwidth. Last year we achieved N2.2 billion from the sales of bandwidth alone and we are still on course to achieve the N8 billion target by 2029,” Egerton-Idehen said.

According to her, most of the satellite customers left after Nigeria’s first communication satellite that was launched into orbit in 2007, failed and was deorbited in 2008. It was however replaced with NigComSat-1R in 2011, but since its replacement, most customers have refused to return back.        

THISDAY however gathered that the majority of the old satellite customers decided to cut off the services of NIGCOMSAT to look elsewhere, after the ground station controlling NigComSat-1R in Abuja was destroyed in 2019, leading to low patronage.

But Egerton-Idehen said the awareness drive embarked upon two years ago since she assumed office would win back old customers, restore their confidence, and also help in achieving the N8 billion sales target by 2029.     

“When people use my service, the experience should be good, because that’s what they are more interested in. If they have issues, I should respond quickly enough in time. So it’s not only selling bandwidth. Now we have the awareness programme and we are working internally to fix the infrastructure, to make sure the technology is reliable, and also to improve the service. Those are the things we need to do as we win the customers back,” Egerton-Idehen said.

She therefore called on government agencies and the private sector players to first patronise NIGCOMSAT, considering the government’s huge investment in the agency’s projects.

Speaking about the achievement of NIGCOMSAT in the last two years, Egerton-Idehen said the agency was able to develop 80 startups across the country and made them market ready for investment.